Mind Games
by KairiAngel13
Summary: After shutting down the super computer, the Lyoko gang begins to change. Unexpected romances, friendships lost and broken, and secrets that are more than willing to tear this group of friends apart. With these stresses added into their lives, the last thing they expected was for XANA to return. Will they be able to put their differences aside to take down XANA once and for all?
1. Boredom

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm back with a new fanfic and I'm so excited to see how this one will be received by all of you Code Lyoko fans. This story idea just popped up in my head one day and I was eager to see how you guys would receive it. So, go ahead and read and leave me a review if you'd like so I can see what you guys think!**

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**"Boredom"**

Jeremy Belpois sat in his usual seat in the cafeteria of Kadic Academy has he busily typed away on his laptop. He had been in his work zone for over an hour now and he wasn't going to stop until he was finished with his little project.

The robot rumble was coming up at Kadic Academy once again and he was determined to take the first place trophy another year. Four years in a row would definitely look good on his resume in the near future.

Jeremy was pulled from his thoughts as a sigh reached his ears. He looked over the brim of his glasses and spied Odd taking a seat. He slammed his tray on the table and pushed it away from him before resting his chin in his right hand.

"Something the matter Odd?" he inquired as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Of course something's wrong Jeremy. Didn't you hear me sighing?"

Jeremy tried to hold back his laughter at the look of misery on his friend's face. He closed the lid of his laptop and folded his hands on the tale top to give his friend the un-divided attention he would need for the next few minutes.

"I'm all ears Odd. What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm dying of boredom!" Odd exclaimed as he through his hands up. "Isn't it obvious? Don't tell me you haven't been bored this path month of school."

"Quite the opposite in fact." Jeremy smiled. "I've been busy developing the outline for my robot rumble project this year. It's fairly time consuming Odd. Perhaps you should take up a hobby or something?"

"I had a hobby Jeremy and it was shut down when we turned the super computer off."

Jeremy's smile fell at the mentioning of the super computer. It was true, they had defeated XANA and shut it down. He wasn't willing to admit it, but he felt like less of a genius without it. After all the work he put into Lyoko, how could he not feel that way?

"I've even considered going back to the factory just to turn the stupid thing on and walk around aimlessly through the sectors." Odd admitted. "Truth is, my life has very little excitement since we destroyed XANA."

"Oh no," another voice came from behind Jeremy, "don't tell me he's moping about Lyoko again."

Jeremy smiled and turned around to see Ulrich approaching with his breakfast tray. He pulled a chair out beside Odd and took a seat.

"As usual." Jeremy said, continuing their conversation. "He seems to think there's no excitement in his life since we shut the thing down."

"Well Jeremy, I kind of agree with him. Since we saved William and had that last battle, the most exciting thing I've done is brush my teeth."

Odd shot Jeremy a glance before smiling. "See Einstein? Ulrich's going through Lyoko withdrawal too! Can't we turn the computer back on just for a little while?"

"Out of the question" Jeremy said. "I don't want to hear another word about Lyoko you guys. That chapter of our lives is over. It's time we start a new chapter."

Ulrich and Odd stared at each other sadly before going back to their meals.

Ten minutes passed by at a turtle's pace and none of the three friends had spoken since. Suddenly, Ulrich could hear his name being called by someone he wasn't in the mood to see that morning.

"Ulrich dear?" he heard a questioning screech behind him.

"Kill me now." Odd muttered. "Hurry up and get rid of her Ulrich."

Ulrich sighed and turned around as Sissi Delmas stopped at the end of their table. She had two tickets in her hand and a smile plastered on her face as she stared at him.

"Ulrich dear, I have tickets to the fall carnival for this weekend and I was hoping you'd like to go with me. The Subsonics are supposed to be performing and there are rides and games and-"

"I'll go." Ulrich cut her off.

Odd practically choked on the oatmeal in his mouth at his friend's words. "Say what?" he shouted after he finished hacking the food out.

"I said I'll go with you."

Sissi starred at him with wide-eyes. That obviously wasn't what she was expecting to hear.

"Really?"

"Sure, why not? I haven't got any other plans. Besides, the carnival sounds like fun."

"Oh, great." Sissi said, still in shock at her crush's words. "I'll…text you later and we can finish making plans."

Ulrich nodded and closed his eyes as he went back to eating his cereal.

"What's the matter with you?" Odd said as he finally caught his breath. "You just made a date with Sissi!"

"For your information Odd, I don't recall her using the word 'date' in her request. She simply asked if I'd like to go to the carnival with her. I don't see any harm in that."

"But Ulrich…you hate Sissi." Jeremy pointed out.

"I don't recall saying that either Jeremy." Ulrich said with a roll of his eyes. "Will the two of you stop putting words in my mouth and calm down? It's no big deal."

"Wait until Yumi finds out." Odd mumbled before going back to his breakfast.

Ulrich felt his stomach tighten at Odd's request, but he ignored him and went back to eating.

**Ishiyama Residence**

"Thank you so much for helping me with my science homework Aelita." Yuma said with a smile. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

Aelita giggled as she stuffed her books back into her pink backpack. "It's the least I could do Yumi. You help me with things all the time so I felt I should do you this one little favor."

The two girls laughed as they finished gathering their things and headed down the main stairs of the home.

Yumi's mother poked her head into the hallway. "Leaving so soon girls? Don't you want some breakfast?"

"I'll just take a banana mom." Yumi said. "What about you Aelita?"

"I'm not hungry. Thank you though."

Yumi's mom ducked into the kitchen and came back out to hand her daughter the fruit she'd requested. "Make sure you come home on time tonight." She said. "Your father has this huge company meeting that I must accompany him to and you need to watch your brother."

Yumi sighed but agreed with her mother before giving her a quick kiss goodbye. She and Aelita then left the house.

The two of them walked down the sidewalk in silence. Aelita was going to speak but she kept silent when she noticed the troubled look on her face. They continued walking like that until they reached the school gates. Aelita finally broke, eager to hear what was on her friend's mind.

"Is something the matter Yumi?" she inquired.

"I'm not sure." Yumi said. "I just have the feeling that today isn't going to be a good day."

"Well, whatever gave you that idea? You seemed fine just a little while ago."

Yumi shrugged. "Women's instinct?" she guessed.

The two of them entered the school courtyard and spied the boys waiting on their usual meeting bench. Ulrich was staring out into space while Odd kicked a hacky sack around. Jeremy was leaning against the bench on the ground as he typed hurriedly on his laptop.

"Hey boys." Aelita smiled in greeting as she and Yumi reached them. "Lovely day isn't it."

"Why, yes it is princess." Odd said in his usually happy voice. "The best part is it's going to get even better."

"Oh?" Yumi said. "And why is that?"

Odd grinned devilishly at Ulrich who shot him a warning glance before turning back to this two friends. "There's a carnival at the fairgrounds this weekend in case you haven't heard."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that." Yumi said. "It sounds like tons of fun. We should go pick up some tickets and go. We've rarely spent any time together this past month."

"That's what I was thinking." Odd said.

"Jeremy, would you like to go?" Aelita asked.

Jeremy waved her request off, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Nah, I'm okay. I have to finish designing my robot so I can start building."

"Oh." She said with slight dejection in her voice. "I guess I'll have to find someone else to go with."

"Well you're in luck princess." Odd smiled. "I don't have anyone to go with. We could go together!"

Aelita's cheeks blushed a bright pink as she began to nervously shift her weight from foot to foot. "Are you sure Odd? You don't have to go with me."

"Oh, trust me princess, I want to go with you. You, me and Ulrich can double date."

"Odd!" Ulrich shouted as he grabbed hold of his friend's arm.

"Double date?" Yumi repeated slowly as she raised an eyebrow. "What's going on Odd?"

Odd laughed nervously as Ulrich's grip on his arm tightened. "Well, if Aelita goes with me, we can tag along with Ulrich and Sissi."

Aelita and Yumi's mouths fell open at Odd's news.

"I'm sorry, did you just say…Ulrich and Sissi are going together?" Yumi said.

Odd nodded as Ulrich sighed and released his friend.

"This is some kind of joke right?" Yumi asked as she turned to Ulrich. "Well Ulrich?"

"It's not a date." He said matter-of-factly. "We're just going as friends."

"I'm sorry, since when are you two **friends**?" Yumi growled.

"Since I decided to give her a chance. Look Yumi, I don't see why you're so upset. It's not like we're together or anything."

Yumi's face reddened with anger as she spun on her heels and stormed off towards the science building.

"Ulrich, what are you doing?" Aelita shouted as she pointed at Yumi's retreating finger. "Go after her!"

"No." Ulrich snapped. "I'm tired of her getting so worked up over something that doesn't concern her. I shouldn't have to comfort someone who's going to be so immature over something as small and simple as this. You guys know what she thinks of me. We're just friends, which is why I don't understand what the big deal is."

Everyone stared at Ulrich in shock as he stood to his feet. "Odd…I'm giving you a ten second head start."

Odd shrieked before jumping to his feet and running off. Ulrich growled before running after the blonde.

Aelita took a seat on the bench and rested her chin in her hand. "I just don't get it."

"What idiots." Jeremy said with a laugh.

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**Author's Note: Go ahead and leave me a review. I'd like to know what you thought of the first chapter!**


	2. Replacement

**Author's Note: Here's the next chapter guys. Let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or any of the show's characters.**

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**"Replacement"  
**

Yumi growled in annoyance as she slammed her books onto the granite table top in her chemistry class. The slam echoed loudly off the surrounding walls as she pulled out her metal chair to take a seat.

"I can't believe him! Why is he going to the carnival with Sissi, someone we both hate?"

Yumi's bantering was so loud that she didn't hear the door open.

"Something the matter Yumi?" William's voice came.

Yumi looked up as the raven-haired boy set his books down to take a seat beside her. Yumi eyed him cautiously before replying.

"I'm fine William…Just a little stressed from al the homework I have to do this weekend."

"Oh yeah, me too." He smiled. "You'd think our teachers would lighten the load since it's getting closer to Thanksgiving break."

Yumi nodded before averting her gaze to the table top. An awkward silence fell over the two of them but was broken as Yumi began rolling a pencil across the table top as William watched her intently.

"So…" she said casually to break the silence. "How've you been lately?"

"I've been okay." He shrugged. "I'm still trying to get used to life again."

William looked away in shame as memories of being under XANA's controlled filled his mind.

"I can't believe I allowed him to…control me like that." He whispered.

"Whoa there pretty boy." Yumi said jokingly to lighten his mood. "Stop right there. We aren't going to mention XANA or Lyoko ever again. Understand?"

William's lips curved into a smile. "I understand."

Their conversation was cut short as the classroom door swung open as more students began to fill in the empty seats.

"So Emily?" a voice came from behind them. "Would you like to go to the fall carnival with me tomorrow?"

Yumi's face angered at the mentioning of the carnival and William didn't fail to notice.

"What about this fall carnival has you so upset?" he asked.

"It isn't the carnival I'm mad about, it's Ulrich!"

William sat upright at the mentioning of his rival.

"He's taking Sissi to the carnival." Yumi sighed. "Is he dumb or what?"

"Yeah," William agreed. "He's totally clueless. So…you obviously wanted to go with him, am I correct?"

"Well…yeah." She admitted as her cheeks flushed. "I thought it would be fun, you know? I mean, we haven't spent any time together since we shut down the super computer and I've…felt like we've been drifting apart."

William smiled as he took her hands in his. "Well this may not help your friendship, but it may lift your spirits a little. Why don't you and I go to the carnival together? It could be loads of fun."

"I don't know William."

"Oh, come on Yumi. We can go as **friends**. Does that make the offer any more tempting?"

Yumi giggled as she pulled her hands from his.

"Okay, I'll go with you!" Emily shouted behind them.

Yumi turned to William and motioned her head towards Emily and smiled softly. "What she said."

William jumped to his feet and cheered with excitement.

**Mrs. Hertz Class**

"Good morning class." Ms. Hertz said as she walked into her classroom. "I'd like all of you to pass your homework to the end of your tables before splitting into groups of two. Hop to it!"

The students gathered their science assignments as they started talking amongst each other.

"I may not be attending Kadic next year." One girl said.

"Good Lord!" someone shouted from the rear of the classroom. "Do you smell that? Odd, di you take your shoes off again?"

Odd turned around and stuck his tongue out. "No!" he shouted. He then turned around to face Ulrich. "So buddy, want to be lab partners?"

"After the mess you put me in outside, I'm going to have to pass." Ulrich said. "Find yourself another partner Odd."

"Oh, come on. You're still mad about that? It's been ten minutes Ulrich. You've got to get over it."

Ulrich shook his head in disagreement before turning to pass in his assignment. As he looked up, he spied Sissi as she quickly glanced at him before looking away nervously. He smiled.

"Hey Sissi?" he called out to her.

Sissi nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice, but she recomposed herself before looking up to lock eyes with him.

"Y-yes?" she stammered nervously."

"Want to be lab partners?"

Everyone gasped in shock as silence filled the room. Sissi looked around at the shock on everyone's faces before turning back to Ulrich.

"You want to be partners with me?" she asked in surprise.

"Of course." He smiled. "It won't be that bad."

Sissi smiled before nodding her head quickly. "I don't see why not. Sure Ulrich, I'll be your lab partner."

"Ulrich," Aelita hissed in a low whisper, "what on earth are you doing? This is some kind of joke right?"

"Great, first Odd and now you. Will you guys stop making such a big deal over everything I do?"

Jeremy, Aelita and Odd stared at him in shock. He was in more of a bad mood than usual.

"I think this Lyoko withdrawal is starting to take its toll." Odd whispered to Aelita and Jeremy.

**Lunch**

"So, what's this Lyoko withdrawal nonsense Odd keeps going on about?" Aelita asked as she shoved a handful of potato chips into her mouth.

Odd took a sip from his milk carton before slamming it down on the table, some of its contents spilling out.

"It's self-explanatory." Odd said. "It's also the only plausible reason to explain Ulrich's sudden acts of insanity. Since we shut the super computer down, he's been a little _loco en el coco_."

Aelita nodded as she drank a small amount of her own milk. "Well, if Lyoko withdrawal is what's doing this to him, it would certainly explain his sudden interest in Sissi." She said in disgust.

"Speaking of Sissi…" Jeremy said, his voice trailing off. "Here she comes right now with our dear friend Ulrich."

The three former Lyoko warriors looked up as the sound of Ulrich and Sissi's laughter filled the room.

"You should've seen the look on his face!" Ulrich exclaimed as he burst into another fit of laughter. Sissi's own laughs echoed along with his as she complimented him on his humor.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Odd moaned as he held his stomach.

"Hey guys." Ulrich said once he reached their table. "You wouldn't mind if Sissi sat with us today would you?"

"You've got to be joking." Odd said.

Sissi looked at Odd with slight hurt in her eyes. "Oh, come on." She pleaded. "I promise to be quiet. I'll even ignore your snide comments and corny jokes."

Aelita couldn't help but giggle at the girl's plea. "Okay Sissi, you can sit with us." She smiled.

Sissi thanked Aelita before taking a seat in between Ulrich and Odd.

"So," Ulrich spoke to clear the air of the rising tension, "we're heading to the carnival tomorrow around seven. Where do you guys want to meet up?"

"The courtyard?" Aelita suggested.

"Nah." Odd said. "The bus stop."

"I can't find my bus pass." Ulrich sighed.

"Um, I have an idea." Sissi said quietly. Everyone turned to her. "My cousin Patty's going to be in town tomorrow and she has a jeep. She's supposed to be going to the carnival with a few high school friends. I could ask her to give us a lift."

"That's not a bad idea." Aelita smiled. "Good thinking Sissi."

"Thanks Aelita. I'll go call Patty now to make sure it's okay."

Sissi grabbed hold of her cell phone and hopped up to make her call.

"That was awfully nice of her to find us a ride." Aelita complimented her. "It seems she can be nice when she wants to be."

"Yeah." Ulrich agreed. "I got the chance to talk to her during science class and as it turns out, she's a pretty cool person. We actually have a lot of the same interests."

"Kill me now!" Odd wailed.

"Would you give it a rest already?" Ulrich snapped. "Just give her a chance Odd. I did and so far, I have no regrets. Sissi's actually a pretty cool person when you get to know her."

"Come on Odd." Aelita said. "Let's give it a try."

Odd's eyes moved between his two friends before he released a sigh. "Fine." He huffed as he bit a large chunk out of his sandwich.

Ulrich and Aelita smiled at him before continuing on with their meals. A few seconds later, Yumi and William appeared.

"Hey guys." Yumi greeted with a smile.

The others responded with light nods and waves. Their eyes widened when they spied William standing beside their friend.

"What's up guys?" he greeted casually with a small smile.

"Um…nothing?" Ulrich said, unsure of how to react.

"Mind if I join you guys for lunch?"

Ulrich exchanged glances with Odd, Jeremy and Aelita. None of them wanted the guy there but it appeared for some reason that Yumi did. He shrugged as he made his final decision.

"I'm not going to stop you. If you want to sit with us, go right ahead."

Yumi raised an eyebrow curiously as William took a seat beside Aelita. She walked around the table to take her usual seat in between Odd and Ulrich but she stopped at the sight of another lunch tray in her spot with untouched food on it.

"Odd, did you get two lunch trays today?" she asked him.

"No." he said shooting Ulrich a glare.

"If this isn't your tray, then whose is it?"

"I'm back!" Sissi exclaimed as she walked over and took a seat in Yumi's usual chair.

The entire room seemed to freeze as Yumi's face curled into an evil snarl.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls gaining other students' attention.

Odd hacked in surprise at Yumi's sudden outburst as Ulrich sank down in his seat. There was about to be a fight and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Oh, hi Yumi." Sissi said as she stared up at the girl. "Is something the matter?"

"Is something the matter? Is something the **matter**? Of course something's wrong! What on earth are you doing here? Better yet, **why **the **heck **are you sitting in my seat?"

"Ulrich said it was okay for me to eat with you guys." Sissi replied trying to stay calm. "I didn't know this was your seat."

"Ulrich, have you lost your mind?" Yumi growled as she slammed her tray down on the table top. "Why in the world would you even suggest the idea of her sitting with us?"

Ulrich sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yumi, it's no big deal. Just let her sit here for today."

"No, she can sit here for the rest of the semester if she'd like. I'm leaving."

"Oh, that's **real **mature." Ulrich said with a roll of his eyes.

"What did you just say to me?" Yumi said balling her fists at her sides.

"That's enough!" Aelita commanded in a stern voice. "Yumi, sit down next to Odd."

"But Aelita-"

"I said **sit down**. You two are causing a scene over something as simple as a seat at the lunch table. For crying out loud, we aren't five years old. Sit down now."

Yumi sighed in frustration as she stormed over to take a seat beside Odd. She pulled the chair back roughly making it scrape loudly against the floor tile before taking her seat.

"There will be no more fighting today." Aelita spoke. "Do I make myself clear?"

Yumi, Sissi and Ulrich nodded and let the arguing subside so their lunch could continue.

"So," Sissi spoke up after the tension began to die down, "Patty said she'd take us tomorrow."

"Really?" Ulrich said perking up a little. "That's awesome."

"I thought you might say that. Anyways, she said she'll be picking us up at five-thirty, so make sure you guys are ready."

"Why are you leaving so early?" William asked. "The carnival doesn't open until seven."

"I know that." Sissi said with a roll of her eyes. "Patty's taking us to this new pizza parlor that opened up a few blocks away from the fairgrounds."

Odd licked his lips at the sound of the word. "Pizza sounds heavenly right about now." He said.

Aelita and Sissi giggled at the boy.

"Well, it sounds like tomorrow's going to be fun." Ulrich smiled.

The mood lightened a little more as Aelita, Odd, Sissi, Ulrich and Jeremy began rambling aimlessly on various topics. At the end of the table though, Yumi and William were sitting silently unnoticed by their friends.

Yumi's eyes remained glued to Sissi and Ulrich. She couldn't take her eyes off the two of them and the apparent flirting that was going on. If only she had laser vision, she'd blast the smile right off both their faces.

"Yumi?" William called out to her. "What's the matter?"

Yumi blinked out of her thoughts before turning her head to meet eyes with William. "I don't understand." She whispered. "Why all of a sudden is everyone friends with her? Why is Ulrich paying her any attention at all? He's supposed to hate her!"

"It doesn't look that way to me." William said as he motioned his head towards Sissi and Ulrich.

Ulrich's head was against Sissi's shoulder as the two of them laughed along with the others at something silly Odd had said.

"He totally left it all in my bed!" they hear Odd shout through his laughter as he told his story.

Yumi felt her eyes burn at the sight of them followed by this painful aching in her chest. William could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. He reached out for her hand and gently rested his upon hers.

"You want to leave?" he asked her quietly.

Yumi nodded as she grabbed her tray and stood to dump it. William followed suit but looked over his shoulder towards the others who hadn't even seemed to notice they'd left.

"What kind of friends replace a friend so…quickly?" he wondered aloud.

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**Author's Note: Aw, poor Yumi! Leave me a review and let me know what you think.**


	3. Out of my Reach

**Author's Note:**** Hey guys, I'm updating this fanfic after a couple weeks of waiting. I'm really glad to be receiving some feedback from you readers. It let's me know that someone's taken an interest in my take of the Lyoko world. Anyways, let's get on with the disclaimer so you can get on with reading this fanfic!**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own _Code Lyoko_, any of the series, or any of the characters. They are property of Moonscoop and the creators/writers of the show. I do however own the plot of this story, being that it was made up entirely by me. So please, no stealing or reproducing my ideas. Thank you!**

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**"Out of my Reach"  
**

Yumi and William sat upon a bench in the courtyard as they stared out at the empty space surrounding them. Lunch wasn't supposed to end for another half-hour so the two of them were alone in a giant schoolyard sitting beneath the afternoon sun as a warm autumn breeze blew through the leaves of the trees around them.

"Are you feeling a little better?" William questioned her as he slung an arm around her shoulder.

Yumi sighed deeply as another breeze blew through filing her nostrils with the smell of crisp autumn leaves.

"Yeah, I really needed to get out of there." She spoke. "It was…too crowded, you know what I mean?"

William let out a soft chuckle before turning to study her face. Her eyes were red from the tears she'd shed earlier and her face was straight as it tried its best to hide the hurt in her eyes.

He tightened his arm around her shoulders hesitantly, unsure of whether she'd pull away or not. He smiled in content as she allowed her head to fall against him.

"There's something I've been needing to say to you." She said after a while.

"Oh?" was his response.

He smiled as he felt her nod against his chest. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you this past month. I also want to say…that I forgive you for all the horrible mistakes you made while on Lyoko."

"Umm…thanks?" he said, unsure of what his response should be.

Yumi giggled as she sat upright, removing his arm from her shoulders. She turned to him and smiled as their eyes met: charcoal black to dark blue.

"I just realized that…you've always been a wonderful support system for me even when I didn't deserve your friendship most of the time. I can't thank you enough William."

William smiled at her words. "Hey, if you won't let me be your boyfriend, I guess I'll settle for the next best thing: being your best friend."

The two of them started laughing to make the awkwardness of their situation disappear before flowing into another conversation. The school bell rang a little while later.

"Shall we head to history class m'lady?" William said in a fake British accent as he stood and extended a hand to her. Yumi giggled before taking his hand and standing to her feet. The two of them then headed off for the history hall.

Across the schoolyard, the others were making their exit from the lunchroom.

"You know something Sissi, you're alright." Odd spoke as he headed down the steps with his friends in two.

"I told you so." Ulrich smiled. "You just had to take the time to get to know her."

Jeremy and Aelita nodded in agreement.

"Say?" Sissi said as a thought suddenly crossed her mind. "Where are William and Yumi?"

"They probably left for class already." Jeremy said. "You know how Yumi feels about tardiness."

Everyone nodded.

"So, we should all do something after classes today." Aelita smiled.

"Count me out." Jeremy said. "I have some work to do."

"Odd, Ulrich, what about you two?"

"Soccer practice till seven." Ulrich spoke.

"Detention with Jimbo." Odd smiled.

"Well, I'm free Aelita." Sissi smiled.

"That's great Sissi. What do you want to do?"

"We could go the mall. I want a new pair of jeans to wear to the carnival tomorrow."

"I guess we could do that. I do need a new jacket after all."

"Well, you two go and have fun then." Ulrich smiled. "Oh, but you should probably ask Yumi if she'd like to go. She'd probably get upset if you didn't ask her."

Sissi nodded. It wouldn't hurt to try.

**Math**

"Okay students." Ms. Williams spoke as she placed a test in front of each of her students. "You have to fill out these form for our fall testing that starts next week. Please follow the directions carefully and only fill in bubbles with a number two pencil."

Mrs. Williams walked back to her desk as the students began hurriedly filling in their bubbles on the scantrons.

"Hey Herve?" Nicholas spoke to his friend in a low whisper. "Why in the world is Sissi sitting with Ulrich Stern?"

Herve raised an eyebrow at his friend's words before looking up in front of him towards Sissi's usual seat. Instead of spying the raven-haired beauty of his dreams, he saw Odd sitting in her seat. He then looked towards Odd's usual seat beside Ulrich and was surprised to see Sissi beside him.

"Good God Nicholas, you're right! What's going on?"

"Maybe she's blackmailing him again?" Nicholas guessed.

"That can't be what's going on. Look how happy the two of them look."

The two boys glanced towards their leader as she whispered something into Ulrich's ear. His shoulders began shaking with laughter as she covered her mouth politely to suppress her bubbly giggles.

"You're right Herve." Nicholas said. "It looks legitimate."

"Herve, Nicholas." Mrs. Williams snapped from the front of the classroom. "I'll tell you what is happening right now: my class. If the two of you would rather be somewhere else to talk about whatever has your lips moving one-hundred miles per minute, I can gladly send you to see Principal Delmas."

Sissi and Ulrich snickered at the two boys before turning back to finish filling out their tests.

"Something fishy is going on." Herve said to himself. "I've just got to find out what."

The next three class periods flew by and soon, the end of the day had approached. The final bell of the school day rang all throughout the school yard and students began filing out of the classrooms to head home or to their respective dorms.

"Oh yeah!" Odd cheered as he burst through the door of Ms. Hertz's class. "It's Friday! Cheers to the freakin' weekend!"

Aelita and Sissi giggled as they followed behind him with Jeremy and Ulrich.

"Yeah." Ulrich responded. "Thank goodness we're out of there. I don't think I could handle another boring lecture."

"It wasn't all that bad." Jeremy said in protest. "Ms. Hertz's lecture was very informational and vital for our minds. I enjoyed the lecture."

Sissi and Odd pretended to gag at his words before everyone burst into a fit of laughter.

"Well guys," Jeremy said as he caught sight of their dorm, "I'm going to head on up to my room. I have to start working on my robot. Text me if you need anything."

Everyone bid their friend goodbyes as he disappeared through the school yard.

"I'd better be going to." Odd sighed. "I have detention."

"Locker room." Ulrich said as he pointed towards the gym and began walking off.

Sissi and Aelita waved their friends off before turning to each other.

"Let's head to the mall!" Sissi exclaimed.

"Wait a minute Sissi, we still need to find Yumi and ask if she'd like to go."

"Oh, right."

**Park**

"I love walking through here in the fall." Yumi said in adoration as she stared above her at the canopy of red, orange and yellow leaves.

William smiled as he held her hand to lead her through the park behind Kadic Academy where they had been several times in the past.

"It's so peaceful." William said.

"Don't forget beautiful. Have you ever seen so many pretty colors in one place? It's amazing."

"Yumi?" Sissi's screeching voice came from behind them.

Yumi growled as all feelings of contentment floated away with the fall leaves. She spun on her heels and folded her arms across her chest as Sissi approached with Aelita."

"What do you want Sissi?" Yumi asked as she began tapping her foot impatiently."

"Would you like to go to the mall with us?" Aelita asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

Yumi's own eyes moved between the two of them before she laughed in disbelief. "Thanks but no thanks." She said.

"Oh, come on Yumi. It would be good for all of us."

"Aelita, I'm not going to the mall with you and Sissi."

"And why not?"

William did some quick thinking before hurrying to wrap an arm around Yumi's waist to pull her close to him.

"Because she already has plans." He spoke casually, earning shocked looks from all three ladies.

"Oh…" Aelita said as she began to awkwardly kick at the leaves littering the ground. "Well, never mind then. You two have fun doing…whatever it is you're doing today. Come on Sissi, let's go to the bus stop."

Sissi and Aelita turned around and retreated back towards the school, leaving Yumi and William alone. As soon as the two girls were out of sight, Yumi pulled William's arm away from her as she mumbled a quick thanks.

"No problem." He smiled.

Yumi turned around and began walking in the direction she and William had initially been walking in. She clenched her fists tightly at her sides and sighed as she heard William fall in step beside her.

"Well, this day just keeps getting better and better." She said, her words dripping heavy with sarcasm.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" William asked.

"I'm going to figure out why everyone's being so friendly towards the wicked witch of the west." Yumi said.

"Well don't get mad, but my guess is Ulrich."

"Believe me William, I know he's the cause of all this. I just want to know why he's gone crazy all of a sudden."

"Might I make a suggestion?" Williams spoke.

Yumi stopped walking and stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"How about you and me go do something to calm your nerves? You've been stressing all day over Ulrich's newfound friendship. Yes, you do need to talk to him about it but if you go and speak to him while you're all worked up, disaster is bound to ensue."

Yumi stared at him quietly as she gave his suggestion some thought. "What exactly did you have in mind?" she asked after a brief pause.

"You'll see. Follow me!"

William began jogging back towards campus, leaving Yumi behind. She smiled interestedly before jogging after him.

**Mall**

"What do you think of these Sissi?" Aelita asked as she held up a cute pair of light blue denim jeans with a sparkling pink belt looped around it. The belt had a butterfly buckle.

Sissi squealed in delight as she clapped her hands together excitedly. "They're so cute Aelita." She complimented her new friend's choice. "They're going to look adorable on you. Have I ever told you that pink is your color?"

Aelita giggled at Sissi's words before reaching up to run her fingers through her feathery pink locks.

"You know something Sissi?" Lyoko's former princess said with a soft smile. "Shopping with you is a lot more fun than I originally thought. It's definitely more fun that shopping with Yumi. All she ever does is eat and complain about wanting to go home. Fashion really isn't her forte. Don't get me wrong, Yumi's my best friend, but her shopping sense is pretty…"

"Dull?" Sissi finished for her as she began flipping through a rack of clearance items.

The two of them laughed at the comment.

"That's true." Aelita sighed. "But hey, now you're my friend. It's nice to have someone that has some of your same interests."

Sissi stopped flipping through the clothes rack to stare at Aelita with a raised eyebrow.

"You consider us friends?" she said surprised.

"Well, at first I was a bit skeptical. I mean…we have quite the history Sissi, but Ulrich seems to have taken a liking to you and he's giving you a chance. I think it's only fair that I do the same."

Sissi smiled. "Thank you Aelita."

"You're more than welcome."

Sissi sighed as she removed a few items from the rack and began walking. "I'm heading to the register to pay for my purchase." She announced.

Aelita nodded as she headed for another clearance rack to search for a shirt. After two minutes of digging, she gasped in awe as she pulled out the most perfect shirt. She dashed into the changing room to try it on.

"Aelita?" Sissi's voice came a few minutes later. "Are you in here?"

"Yeah," Aelita responded, "I'm trying on this shirt that I found. It's really cute and it will look absolutely perfect with the jeans I'm going to buy."

"Well hurry up and come out here so I can see." Sissi said, a smile evident in her voice.

Aelita checked her reflection in the changing booth one final time and smiled. She then shook her head a few times to give her hair a looser and wild look. After checking her reflection again she unlatched the door and stepped out to show Sissi the outfit. Sissi squealed in delight as she voiced her approval.

The light denim jeans looked perfect on Aelita. They hugged the little curves she did have and the light blue color looked great against her cream0colored skin. The shirt was half-sleeved and a pale pink with a beautiful abstract design of pink and sliver glitter swirls. The design matched the belt that was looped through the jeans. The final thing to tie the outfit together was a pair of pink boots and a set of silver hoops.

"Please tell me that's the outfit you're wearing to the carnival tomorrow." Sissi said with her fingers crossed.

"I'm not sure yet." Aelita admitted as she walked over to a large wall mirror. "I think it may be too much for this sort of event."

"Are you kidding me Aelita? You have wear it. Odd will love you in that outfit!"

A blush brightened Aelita's cheeks as she ducked back into the dressing room to return to her original pair of clothes.

"W-Why would I want to look nice for Odd?" she stammered as she began undressing herself.

"Well, you want to impress him, don't you? I mean, it will totally spice things up between the two of you and we'll definitely have a better time at the carnival."

"Sissi, in case you haven't noticed, I'm 'sort of' in a relationship with Jeremy."

"Define 'sort of' Aelita." Sissi said putting air quotes around the words as she took a seat outside the booth.

"Well, we're pretty close and he's always been there for me since the beginning of our friendship. He's always making me laugh, he knows how to cheer me up on bad days, he's fun to hang out with and he's super smart."

"But are you **dating**." Sissi spoke, putting heavy emphasis on the word. "You know? Are you his girlfriend and is he your boyfriend?"

"Well…no…" Aelita admitted as she finished sliding her shirt over her head.

"Then Aelita, wear that outfit tomorrow. You're a free woman and you need to keep your options open for Pete's sake! You're going to that carnival tomorrow with Odd and you're going to make his mouth drop to the ground when you show up in that outfit."

Aelita let out a small giggle as she poked her head out of the booth's door.

"Okay, I'll wear the outfit under one condition."

"What's that?"

Aelita smiled. "You have to look drop dead gorgeous too."

Sissi gasped and put a hand to her chest. "But of course Aelita. I'm a free woman too you know. Besides, an amazing outfit is the first key to reeling in a good looking guy."

The two girls laughed as they exited the store.

**Kadic Academy**

"Thanks for cheering me up today William." Yumi said as she and William entered the schoolyard. "I really appreciate it."

"It was no trouble at all Yumi. You know I hate seeing you upset."

Yumi nodded as the two of them stopped walking. "Well, I definitely feel better now and I'm certainly much calmer. So…I guess I can talk to Ulrich now and get things straightened out."

William's mouth thinned into a straight line. "Are you sure you're ready to do that?"

Yumi nodded. "Positive."

William sighed before smiling. He just couldn't say "no" to her.

"Alright then. I'm going to head back to my dorm and get started on some homework. Call me when you get home later and let me know what happens."

The two stare at each other's smiling faces as they study each other. Yumi felt her stomach tighten as William stepped closer to her and closed his eyes as though he were preparing to kiss her. Yumi cleared her throat, snapping him out of his current action.

"I'm going to go find Ulrich." She said quietly before waving awkwardly and heading for the soccer field.

William stayed behind and watched her go. Just as Yumi was out of sight, he turned to leave only to spy Sissi and Aelita walking through the front gates with dozens of shopping bags. He casually strolled over to them.

"Hey Sissi, hey Aelita." He greeted them.

Aelita waved awkwardly, obviously not wanting to be bothered by the guy, but Sissi did quite the opposite.

"Hey William." She said in a cheerfully up-beat tone.

"I see you ladies made quite the haul during your trip today."

Sissi giggled. "It was a lot of money to spend, but it was totally worth it."

"I'll bet. Say, do you need any help carrying your bags?"

"Sure William. That would be great. It'll make things much faster. Then, I can go see Ulrich."

William nodded as he took some of Sissi's things. As they began walking towards the dorm, William looked over to the soccer field where Yumi had disappeared to minutes earlier.

"Don't worry Yumi." He said quietly to himself. "I'm going to make sure you get all the uninterrupted time you need to sort things out with Stern. I'll keep Sissi busy."

**Soccer Field**

Yumi walked up the steps of the bleachers and took a seat on the top row. She stared out at the field where the soccer team was huddled around Jim. He was busy barking orders and as far as what those orders were, Yumi was clueless.

The team split up a few seconds later. One boy went to the net to act as the goalie. Half of the boys went to one side of the field and the others, including Ulrich removed their shirts.

Yumi couldn't help but blush at the sight of Ulrich's bare chest. He definitely kept himself in shape by the look of the marble-carved abs on his chest. It was a six-pack no doubt and it was perfectly toned. She couldn't help but to gawk. When Jim blew his whistle, she snapped out of her trance.

As soon as the whistle had been blown, Ulrich had made a mad dash toward the ball to snatch it out of Theo's possession. His foot slid beneath Theo's leg and he kicked the ball away from him before swiftly moving around him to take possession of the ball. He moved swiftly down the field managing to avoid everyone in his path. A boy Yumi recognized from her math class was chasing after Ulrich, determined to steal the ball, but Ulrich was already ten steps ahead of him. When he reached the goal, he flipped the ball into the air with the ball of his foot before jumping up and kicking it with all his might, sending it flying into the goal. The shirtless boys began cheering along with Jim. Yumi smiled and clapped her hands softly.

After a few words from Jim, the boys cheered before walking back to the gym to head for the locker room. Yumi sighed and stood to follow them. Just as her foot left the bleachers and touched the field, Jim spotted her.

"Ah, Yumi." He said, his voice as boisterous and grand as usual. "I thought that was you sitting up there. Did you like that play they just ran? It was amazing, wasn't it?"

"Yeah Jim." Yumi said uninterestedly as her eyes followed Ulrich as he entered the gymnasium. "It was pretty cool."

"I can't wait for the soccer tournament next week." Jim exclaimed. "Ulrich's going to tear up the field. The kid just can't be beat!"

Yumi nodded as she slowly moved away from the coach.

"Well Jim, I really have to get going. I have some business to attend to."

"Sure thing Yumi." He said waving after her. "I'll see you bright and early Monday morning."

Yumi waved goodbye and turned around as she rolled her eyes. She then made her way towards the gym.

She looked around curiously as she pushed the metal doors open. The gym looked a lot different and darker since the work lights were the only things glowing. Yumi made her way across the dark gym as she headed for the bleachers near the locker room. Her boots echoed loudly off the surrounding walls along with the sound of the soccer team's laughter as it grew louder the closer she got to her destination. She took a seat on the second row and rested her feet on the first before setting her eyes intently on the door to keep an eye out for Ulrich. Two freshman boys came out laughing loudly as they made their way out of the gym. As the door closed loudly behind them, Yumi's cell phone vibrated. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out to read the impending message.

**William: Hey! Ran in 2 Sissi and Aelita. Keeping them busy so u have t2t2 Stern. UR welcome lol**

Yumi giggled before texting him back.

**Yumi: thnkx **

"Thank goodness." She said quietly as she slid her phone back into her pocket. Sissi was the last person she wanted to have around during this conversation.

Ten minutes went by and there was still no sign of Ulrich. The rest of the team, with the exception of Theo, had already made their exits. Yumi began to tap her foot impatiently as she continued to wait. Finally, the two boys emerged from the locker room. It seemed like they were having a serious conversation judging by the looks on their faces.

"I just don't know what to think anymore Theo." She heard Ulrich say in a slightly depressed tone. "Things just seem so bleak like…they aren't worth fighting for anymore."

"It'll be okay man." Theo said as he tried his best to reassure him. The brunette tucked a soccer ball under his left arm. "Everything will blow over in time."

"I hope you're right." Ulrich responded.

The two of them stopped walking when they caught sight of Yumi sitting on the bleachers.

"Hey Ulrich, I'll just meet up with you and Sissi later, okay?"

Ulrich nodded as Theo walked out of the gym. His eyes never left Yumi's nor did hers leave his as the door slammed loudly. Yumi felt her stomach tighten as she spoke.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." He replied.

The two of them continued to stare at each other in silence for a few more seconds before Ulrich sighed and walked over to take a seat beside her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he leaned back against the seat behind them.

Yumi took a deep breath and focused her eyes on the set of bleachers across the gym. "I wanted to talk to you." She said.

"About what?" he asked as his eyes remained on her.

"Ulrich, I need to know…what's happening to you?"

"What's happening to me…" he repeated slowly, making sure he'd heard right.

Yumi nodded before leaning back as well. She folded her arms across her chest as she awaited an answer.

"What do you mean what's happening to me?" was the one he gave her as slight offense could be detected in his voice.

Yumi sighed and turned to her face to him. Ulrich was staring at her with a look of impatience on his face.

"You've changed." She said sadly.

"How?"

"For starters, I rarely see you anymore."

Ulrich's mouth fell open. "Are you serious right now? In case you've forgotten, I'm on the soccer team Yumi. I have practice every day after school. I'm sorry I can't hang out with you all the time."

"Ulrich, I know you have practice. It's just that…a month ago we hung out all the time whether it was eating lunch together or walking to class. We haven't even been able to do that."

"We ate lunch together today." Ulrich said growing irritated.

"Really? You could've fooled me. I sat at the other end of the table with William while **Sissi Delmas **sat in **my **seat Ulrich. I mean really Ulrich, Sissi?"

Ulrich growled. "Are we really about to have this conversation again?"

"Yes we are!" Yumi shouted as she stood to her feet. "I want you to look me in my eyes and be completely honest with me. Tell me what's going on with you two."

Ulrich stood to his feet so their eyes were level. "If you must know, we're just friends Yumi. Just like you and I **supposedly **are."

"How can you even think of comparing our relationship to what you have with her?"

"Why not Yumi? That's what we are: friends. That's what **you **wanted us to be, remember?"

Yumi turned away from Ulrich as tears began burning in her eyes. "I…I just want to know." She spoke quietly. "Why all of a sudden are you friends with her. You've always been repulsed by the mere sight of her and now you don't? Things just aren't making sense to me."

She blinked a few tears free as she heard Ulrich sigh behind her. "Yumi…from the moment we first met, my life has been exciting. I'd finally found a friend who was like me in more ways than one. We both enjoying fighting, we like the same type of music, eating cold pizza, swimming late out in the woods and watching scary movies. We also worked well together on Lyoko. However…"

"What Ulrich?" she whispered as she held herself tight, refusing to let him know she was crying.

"After we shut down the super computer, our lives went back to normal. We were no longer missing class and practices to run off to the factory so we could deactivate a tower. We don't have to jump into cold lake water anymore to shower after a late night mission. We don't eat cold pizza or watch scary movies while trying to do our homework at three in the morning. I've come to realize that since we shut Lyoko down…we've lost those things we had in common."

"So, what you're saying is that our friendship…has out run its course." She said.

"No Yumi, that's not it."

Yumi turned around and revealed her tears to Ulrich. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open at the sight. He'd never seen Yumi cry before.

"Ulrich," she said painfully, "you just don't get it do you?"

"Yumi…" he said breathlessly.

"You're my best friend, can't you see how much you mean to me? Not being able to spend time with you and having to stand by watching as Sissi takes my place…it's **killing **me inside."

"She's not taking your place Yumi. No one could ever take your place in my heart."

"Then why do I feel so…so…"

"Jealous?" Ulrich suggested.

Yumi squeezed her eyes shut to try to maintain herself control, but when Ulrich placed a hand on her shoulder, she just about lost it.

"Yumi, Sissi is just a friend. Yes, I know I've spent the past for years repulsed by her, but I've finally decided to give her a chance and as it turns out, she's an amazing person. She's cool and we have a lot in common. I'm sorry that you feel I've changed because I'm giving her a chance, but I think things are better this way. I'm turning over a new leaf."

Yumi bowed her head as her body shook with silent sobs. Ulrich wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry Yumi. I never meant to hurt you like this, honestly."

Yumi lifted her head to stare into his eyes. Her heart longed for the boy and she didn't know how to say it.

"Ulrich…I-"

Yumi was cut off as the song "I almost had you" began to ring throughout the gymnasium. Ulrich released his hold on her and reached into his pocket to answer his phone.

"Hello?" he answered dully as he waited for the person on the other line to respond. "No, I'm still in the gym. Well, I stayed a little late after practice."

Yumi released her hold on him and wiped the remaining tears in her eyes and on her face away.

Ulrich smiled as he continued talking to the caller. "Oh, well to be honest, I did forget. I'm sorry." He released a small laugh as Yumi sat back down on the bleachers. "Yeah, I'll meet you at the front gates right now. Okay. Bye."

Ulrich ended the call and looked down at Yumi who was staring emotionlessly at the bleachers across the gym again.

"I have to go." He said as he slung his duffle bag over his shoulder.

Yumi didn't respond verbally. She settled for a simple yawn."

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked her worriedly.

Yumi nodded before standing. "I'll be fine." She said flatly as she began to walk away.

Ulrich stopped her by grabbing hold of her shoulder. "Yumi wait."

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Is everything going to be okay between us?"

Yumi turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were puffy and red from her previously shed tears. She took a deep breath before removing his hand from her shoulder and continuing to make her exit.

"You said so yourself Ulrich." She said as she continued walking away. "We've lost everything we had because Lyoko's no longer a part of our lives, and you're absolutely right. It's so stupid, but it's true. It's funny…you think you know someone."

"Yumi-"

"Just forget it Ulrich." She snapped. "I now know where we stand. I just…"

Yumi stopped walking and peered over her shoulder. "I thought we could repair our relationship, but it's hopeless. You're just…out of my reach."

Ulrich stared at Yumi in shock as she walked out of the gym. He growled angrily before exiting through a different door.

Yumi began crying again as she made her way across the soccer field through the cold autumn air. Her hair was blown black in a furious gust of wind as it flapped wildly against her ears. She stopped walking when she heard someone calling Ulrich's name. She turned around in search of the voice's owner and began crying again when she saw Sissi waving him down back near the gymnasium.

Yumi turned away from the two of them and began running towards the dorms. As she reached the steps, she didn't see or hear William opening the door. The two of them ended up slamming into each other, sprawling out on the ground.

William groaned in pain as he sat up slowly and shook his head. His concern went from himself to Yumi though once he caught sight of her lying beside him on the floor as her body shook with silent sobs.

"Yumi?" he called out to her gently.

She didn't answer as he crawled over to her and placed a hand on her back.

"What happened?"

Yumi sat up quickly and threw her arms around William's neck as she buried her face in its crook. Her shoulders shook violently as she sobbed, her tears wetting his shirt.

"What did he do to you?" he demanded angrily as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"I was such a fool for thinking I'd be able to fix our relationship." She cried. "As it turns out…without Lyoko, there's nothing left for us. That was his excuse!"

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No, just let him be happy with Sissi. I'm done trying."

William pulled away from her and stared at her in disbelief. "So that's it huh? You're just going to throw in the towel? Yumi, ever since the first day I met you, I knew how much Ulrich meant to you. You care for him so much and up until recently, I could tell that he cared for you a lot too."

Yumi took a deep breath as she wiped at her face. "This is all my fault."

"How do you figure?"

Yumi stood to her feet and ran her hands over her shirt to smooth out the winkles. William also stood up as he brushed his shoulders off.

"I'm the one who said that we were friends and just friends. I basically made the decision that we couldn't be together."

"I don't understand Yumi. If you liked him, why put restraints on your relationship?"

Yumi closed her eyes to steady her breathing as memories flooded through her mind of that warm summer afternoon. She and Aelita were playing Japanese checkers while Jeremy was busy creating new mods for Lyoko. Ulrich and Odd had just gotten back from their summer vacation and she'd pulled Ulrich aside to tell him what she didn't want to but what she saw as necessary to keep their friendship intact. She would never forget the look of hurt and anger in his eyes after she'd made the request.

"I thought at the time that it was for the best." She sighed.

"Not to be mean or anything," William said as he rubbed the back of his head, "but what you said to him that day probably hurt him deeper than you can ever imagine."

Yumi nodded as she opened her eyes. She couldn't argue with the point he'd just made. It was her fault. If she'd just let their relationship take its course and blossom instead of putting it on the back burner, perhaps they wouldn't be so distant now. Perhaps she would've been in a relationship with him just like she'd always dreamed.

"You're absolutely right William, but what am I going to do now? I've basically driven him into Sissi's awaiting arms. I can't allow her to take my pace in his life."

"Then don't." William said. "Yumi, you're going to get through this. You aren't going to cave in because that's exactly what Sissi wants you to do. You're going to fight and win this battle."

Yumi couldn't help but laugh at the boy's determination. William smiled, relieved that he'd gotten her to laugh before pulling her into a hug.

"I don't know what I'd do without you." She sighed.

"You'd probably be suicidal and depressed." He said jokingly.

The two of them smiled before pulling away, but not before William gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Come on." He said holding out a hand. "I'll walk you home."

Yumi smiled before taking his hand as he led her down the steps and out the front gates. Just as they disappeared from sight, Milly and Tamia stood up from behind the brick wall of the stair railing with wide smiles on their faces.

"Scoop alert!" they sang as they started laughing.

* * *

**Author's Note: Go ahead and leave me a review. I'm interested to read what you thought of this chapter!**


	4. A Super Scoop

**Author's Note:**** Hey guys, I'm back with the next chapter after being absent for a few weeks. Before I begin though, I wanted to point out a few changes that I made for this story. Hey, it's fanfiction. Changes are possible to happen because the laws here defy logic of the actual show lol**

**First off, I wanted to say that this story takes off where the cartoon/animated series left off. I'm not going to tie this story into what happens on **_**Code Lyoko: Evolution**_** simply because I began drafting and writing this story before I even knew that show was going to be released. However, there is another female genius that was in the original draft of the story, and I've decided to change her name from Melanie to Laura. So there is one character from **_**Code Lyoko: Evolution **_**in the story. Her personality is slightly different though, so keep that in mind.**

**Second off, I wanted to change how Aelita and Odd's relationship is simply because I like the idea of them being together. Aelita isn't Odd's cousin in this story. She's posing as a family friend. So no one at Kadic believes them to be related. This helps with the future of this story.**

**Now that I cleared that up, let's get on with the disclaimer so you can begin reading.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**Code Lyoko **_**or **_**Code Lyoko: Evolution**_**. They are property of Moonscoop productions and the writer of the show. If I owned Code Lyoko...I don't know what I'd do. I'd be in heaven lol**

* * *

"**A Super Scoop"**

Milly and Tamia giggled as the printer continued to print out copies of their latest story.

"I can't wait for our paper to hit the stands tomorrow." Milly exclaimed as she clapped her hands together excitedly. "Everyone's going to love our story."

"I know." Tamia agreed as she moved a large stack of newspapers over to the coffee table in the room's center. "Great idea hiding near the dorm entrance Milly. We've definitely found ourselves a super scoop."

Milly smiled with glee at the word _scoop_.

"I couldn't agree with you more Tamia. Sissi and Ulrich are actually together and it's tearing Yumi and Ulrich apart, causing Yumi to fall helplessly into William's arms. Our drama section has officially reached the front pages."

The two of them cheered excitedly before giggling happily.

* * *

**Park**

Sissi and Ulrich strolled down the leave-covered path as they talked and laughed about something silly that had happened in class earlier that day. Ulrich stopped their stroll when he spotted an old park bench and he led Sissi over to take a seat.

"You're crazy, you know that?" he spoke with a chuckle as they took a seat.

Their laughter ceased and the two of them settled for simply smiling at each other happily.

"I had a great time with you today." Ulrich admitted as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I'm glad we decided to hang out."  
Sissi's smile widened as a blush spread across her cheeks. She turned her head quickly and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You did?" she said, slightly surprised.

Ulrich nodded and rested a hand on her knee. "I can't believe that I spent so many years ignoring you and not willing to give you a chance. The truth is, you're a great person to hang out with. We have a lot of the same interests, you're actually pretty intelligent and you're pretty."  
Sissi's head snapped to Ulrich quickly as her eyes widened with surprise. She studied his face and smiled at the seriousness in his eyes.

"I'm not as bad as you though, huh?" she said with a giggle.

"No, you're not. I think it's because you're being yourself instead of someone you're not. You spent so much time trying to impress me by acting the way you thought I wanted you to. I'm glad you dropped the facade long enough for me to see who you really are."

Sissi sighed and put her hands in her lap. "I'm really sorry Ulrich for the way I acted. I was just...so desperate to get you to notice me."

Ulrich placed a finger to her chin and lifted her head so their eyes could meet. "I did notice you Sissi. However, I didn't take the time to stop and truly take a look at the person I was seeing and now that I have, I'm glad."

Ulrich's words seemed to fade away as Sissi stared into her eyes. They were so beautiful to her in the way they seemed to gaze into hers. Remarkable could describe them even better. They were a dark, chocolate brown but they had a slight honey tone to them. The sunset seemed to enhance their beauty. In his eyes, Sissi could see the feelings they held: nervousness, anticipation, anxiousness, adoration and perhaps even uncertainty.

"What's the matter?" Ulrich asked with a raised eyebrow, pulling her from her thoughts. "You got quiet all of a sudden."  
"Nothing's wrong." she said quickly as she shook her head to relieve herself of her trance. "I was just..."  
Ulrich smiled playfully. "You were just...?"

"It's just that, I never noticed your eyes before." she said as her cheeks darkened even more. "They're really beautiful."

Ulrich's eyes widened another time. "You really think so?"  
Sissi looked back to him and nodded. "They're mesmerizing. It's like I could stare at them all day."  
"I feel the same about yours." Ulrich said as he lifted his arm from her knee to wrap around her shoulders.

Sissi closed her eyes as her emotions began to run haywire. She closed her eyes and began taking slow, steady breaths to try and calm her racing heart. Her stomach was fluttering and her chest had a numb tickling feeling. Ulrich held her tighter and she looked up into his eyes where she was once again captured by their beauty. That's when she realized how close their faces really were to each other's. They were mere inches apart and Ulrich was staring at her in amusement.

Her mouth opened slightly as she prepared to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, a tingling feeling swam through her lips as her brain screamed at her to kiss the boy of her dreams.

"Sissi..." Ulrich spoke, his voice making her head spin. "There's something I've been wanting to do all day."  
"And what's that?" she asked.

The arm Ulrich had around her shoulders slid down her back to wrap around her waist. He pulled Sissi close and let his lips envelop hers. Their eyes slid closed as Ulrich continued their heated kiss.

Across the pathway, Sissi and Ulrich were being watched by an angry Herve. The raven-haired, pimple-faced teen was shaking angrily as his fists were clenched at his sides. Ulrich had always claimed to be repulsed by Sissi and now, all of a sudden, he was interested in her? Herve had always been there for Sissi, cheering her on and following along with some of her insane plans all because of the feelings he held for the girl; but now, it was painstakingly clear that Sissi's feelings were being returned.

"Stern thinks he's so great." he muttered as he pulled a camera out of his backpack and aimed the lens at the two of them. "He's going to wish he'd never messed with my dear Sissi."  
Herve snapped a photo of the two of them on the bench and lowered the camera to glare at the image that appeared on the digital screen. Satisfied with the snapshot, Herve jogged back to campus to meet up with Milly and Tamia.

Ulrich and Sissi continued their little make-out session, failing to notice that Herve had snapped their photo and run off. They pulled apart briefly for air, both of them flustered. When Ulrich prepared to lean in for another kiss, Sissi mentally panicked and pushed him, knocking him off the bench. Ulrich let out a cry of pain as his back hit the hard ground.

"What the heck was that for?" he shouted.

Sissi stood to her feet and placed her hands on her hips as she stared down at him. "What's going on?" she demanded. "Why did you kiss me? I mean...why all of a sudden to you seem to have feelings for me? Up until this past week, you've never given me a second thought and now you're interested in me? What's with you Ulrich? You're usually pining after Yumi!"

"Please don't bring her up." he said as he sat up, his mood faltering.

Sissi's brow narrowed at his reaction to her words. "I see...things didn't work out with her so you go after the first girl you see, right? I knew this was too good to be true."  
"Sissi, it isn't like that, I swear." Ulrich said quickly as he stood to his feet and grabbed her hand. "The things I feel for you didn't just happen overnight. In fact...I've kind of felt something for you the past three months."  
Sissi's eyes widened at his confession. "Wait a second...you've liked me for three months? That can't be Ulrich. As I recall, three months ago, you and your friends were still treating me like some unwanted disease.

Ulrich nodded at her words. She was right after all, but so was he. Three months ago, the Super Computer was still up and running. He and the others were still trying to free William from Xana's clutches. However, his words were true as well. He really had been feeling something for her back then.

"It's something I was in denial about." he admitted. "I started getting these weird feelings around you and I found myself taking notice of you more often. My fighting with Yumi didn't help much either. So, I guess I got tired of chasing after someone who I couldn't seem to get through to and I decided to trust the feelings I was having and took a chance at you."

Sissi's face lit up at the information. "So, I'm not just some rebound girl."

"No Sissi. You're more special then some rebound girl could ever be."  
Sissi smiled at his words and threw her arms around Ulrich's neck to hug him tight.

* * *

Early the next morning, Yumi Ishiyama released a yawn as she descended the stairs in her family home. The smell of white rice and fish welcomed her nose as her sock-covered feet me the wooden floor of the hallway.

"Something sure smells good." she said loud enough for the kitchen occupants to hear.

"Thank you sweet heart." her mother responded as she entered the kitchen. "I made you a bowl already, so grab your chopsticks and come to the table."

Yumi walked into the dining area and took a seat next to Hiroki. She picked up her jade green and black chopsticks and took hold of her bowl to begin eating. The dining are was very quiet and Yumi didn't fail to notice. She lifted her head to stare at her younger brother Hiroki. He wasn't talking at all, which made her very suspicious. The boy was staring at her and the minute her eyes met his, he quickly darted his gaze away. Yumi didn't fail to notice.

"Something the matter?" she asked as she plopped a piece of fish into her mouth.

"It's nothing." he said quickly as he tried to eat his meal.

"Spill Hiroki." Yumi said impatiently.

Hiroki sighed and placed his chopsticks on the table. "Milly called me this morning." he admitted as he stared down at the table top.

Yumi raised an eyebrow at the mentioning of her brother's reporter girlfriend. "What did she want?"

"Are you and William...dating?" he asked slowly.  
Yumi's eyes bulged at his words. "Of course we aren't dating!" she shouted. "Who in the world told you that? Was it Milly?"  
"Wait a second, William?" her father said in his usual gruff voice as he took a sip of tea. "Whatever happened to Ulrich?"

"Dad, William and I certainly aren't dating and I never was dating Ulrich."  
"Good, I never liked Ulrich anyway."

Yumi ignored her father's words and looked back to her brother. "What do me and William have to do with your phone call with Milly?"  
The color drained from Hiroki's face. "Maybe you shouldn't go to school today."

"And why not?"

"Milly called and asked if you and William were together. Don't worry, I told her no. But she started giggling and thanked me. I asked her why she'd asked me that and she said she needed confirmation for today's scoop."  
Yumi stared at her brother in shock before jumping up and running out of the kitchen.

"Yumi?" her mother called after her. "Get back in here and clear your dishes off the table."  
Yumi reappeared a few seconds later with her backpack and combat boots. She threw the items against the wall before snatching her dishes off the table to take to the sink.

"Hiroki," their mother spoke calmly in spite of her daughter's flurry, "go and get your things. Your sister is apparently ready to go early."

"No thanks." he said as he sunk down in his seat. "I'll just get a ride from Johnny's mom."

Yumi re-entered the room and shoved her sock-covered feet into her boots before hurriedly lacing them up. She then slung her backpack over her shoulder and ran out the front door.

"Well," Mr. Ishiyama spoke, "I guess our family meal has been cut short."

Yumi raced down the front steps of her home and sprinted down the sidewalk towards the academy.

"A scoop about me and William?" she spoke to herself as she leaped over a park bench to cross the busy street. "What in the world could he have been talking about?"

Yumi rounded the corner and yelped in surprise as she slammed into someone, knocking them both to the ground. She began to quickly mutter apologies as she stood to her feet and dusted herself off.

"I am so sorry." she said. "I should have been paying closer attention to where I was going."

"I'll say." a familiar voice came. "This makes twice in the past twenty-four hours."

Yumi looked down to the sidewalk and gasped as William shook his head and stood to his feet. Yumi helped to dust him off as she apologized again.

"What are you doing off campus?" she asked.

"I wanted to come and check on you and offer to walk you to school." he said. "Yesterday was a tough day for you, remember?"

Yumi nodded before walking towards Kadic's main entrance. William fell in step beside her.

"So, what were you running for earlier?" he asked. "School doesn't start for another hour."

"Something tells me that Milly and Tamia's latest scoop is going to ruin my day." she grumbled as they walked into the courtyard.

* * *

**Cafeteria**

"Morning everyone." Aelita spoke cheerfully as she took a seat with Jeremy and Odd. "Where's Ulrich? Did he sleep in late?"

"Nope." Odd said as he devoured a bagel smeared with cream cheese. "He left our room about twenty minutes before I did. I think he went to see Sissi."

Jeremy and Aelita stared at each other and then back at Odd.

"What?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

"It's so weird that we're all friends with her now." Aelita admitted. "I actually had a fun time with her shopping yesterday."  
"It's definitely going to take some getting used to." Jeremy said.

Odd opened his mouth as he prepared to respond, but his eyes widened and he froze as he stared behind Jeremy and Aelita towards the cafeteria doors. He dropped the remainder of his bagel onto his plate.

"What's wrong Odd?" Aelita asked worriedly.

Odd pointed a finger towards the doorway signaling the two of them to turn around. The two of them let out a gasp at the sight of Ulrich and Sissi walking into the room, their lips locked together. Other students caught sight of them and began to whisper amongst themselves. Ulrich pulled his lips away from Sissi's and the two of them laughed before lacing their fingers together.

Odd's mouth remained ajar as they took their seats beside him.  
"Ulrich!" he shouted. "You and Sissi just-"

"Kissed?" Ulrich smiled as though the answer were obvious.

"Y-yeah, but why?" Aelita asked breathlessly.

Ulrich let out a short laugh before draping an arm over Sissi's shoulders. "Oh, come on you guys. It isn't that crazy. Sissi and I are dating."

"She's your girlfriend!" Odd shouted.

Sissi giggled before nodding her head. Jeremy ran a hand through his hair before pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Uh...congratulations?" he spoke, not sure of what else to say.

"Changing the subject," Odd said as he finally came out of his shock, "your cousin's still taking us to the carnival this afternoon right?"

Sissi nodded. "Be ready by five this afternoon. It's going to be a blast."

The door burst open, pulling the teens from their conversation and everyone looked to the door as Milly and Tamia walked in carrying armloads of newspapers.

"Extra, extra, read all about it!" Milly shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. "Today we have a **super scoop**! Ulrich Stern cheats on Yumi Ishiyama with Sissi Delmas, driving her into the arms of William Dunbar!"

"Say what?" Ulrich shouted as he stared at them with wide eyes.

All the other students present in the lunchroom jumped out of their seats to snatch up the latest release of the Kadic News.

"What's going on Ulrich?" Aelita asked worriedly.

"I have no idea. That report is a lie Aelita. Yumi and I aren't and never were dating and I certainly didn't cheat on her with Sissi. On top of that, I don't believe the claim that she and William are together."

"Are you sure about that?" Odd asked as he gestured his head towards the door.

Ulrich looked up and spotted Yumi through the lunchroom windows. She was standing outside with Wililam's arm draped over her shoulders as they read the latest scoop. Yumi's head bowed slowly and William pulled her into his arms to hug her close. Ulrich's mouth fell open at the sight of them.

"So...they are dating?" Sissi asked, unsure of what to make of the sight.

Odd shrugged before picking his bagel up. "I don't know, they could be together. However, the story could be fake. Don't forget, Milly and Tamia have made up stories before just to sell more copies of the Kadic News."

"Yeah, but those stories never involved Kadic Students." Jeremy pointed out. "They involved celebrity news and gossip. If this scoop was made up, it was very cruel and immature for them to do."

"It's a filthy lie." Ulrich snapped.

"Oh, is it now?" Jim's voice came from behind them. Everyone looked up and stared at the gym teacher.

"Delmas wants to see his daughter now." he said.

"What for?" Sissi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jim held up the latest copy of the Kadic news and pointed at the picture blown up on the page. Everyone gasped at the image of Ulrich and Sissi making out in the park.

"Where did that picture come from?" she shrieked as her cheeks reddened with embarrassment.

"Let's go." Jim said as he helped her stand to her feet. "Your father is furious with this public display, not to mention embarrassed that his daughter acted in such a way."  
Jim led Sissi out of the cafeteria, leaving the four former Lyoko warriors alone.

"Way to go Ulrich." Odd cheered his friend on as he elbowed him in the side. "Who would've thought you had it in you?"

Ulrich ignored Odd's comment as his eyes returned to the windows where Yumi could be seen crying in William's arms. Odd, Jeremy and Aelita noticed their friends averted gaze and stared at him, waiting for him to make his next move.

"Go and talk to her." Aelita encouraged him. "Things need to get straightened out."

Ulrich nodded and stood to his feet.

"Be sure to go in with a positive attitude." Odd said. "It will make enduring Yumi's wrath a little less painful."

"Thanks for the encouragement Odd." he said sarcastically as he walked out of the room.

Ulrich was greeted with a large gust of wind as his hair was blown back away from his forehead. He shivered and closed the trailer door behind him before heading over to where Yumi's cries were coming from.

Yumi was still in William's arms as he stroked her back gently. He whispered encouraging words in her ears to try and soothe her. He hated her seeing her in so much pain. Ulrich had definitely crossed a line this time.

"Yumi?" Ulrich called out to her, concern in his voice.

Yumi gasped and looked up from William's shoulder. Ulrich's heart pained at the sight of her mascara running down her cheeks, her hair slightly disheveled.

"What the hell are you doing here Stern?" William snapped.

"I wanted to check on Yumi." he admitted.

Yumi looked away from Ulrich, making his heart ache even more.

"Is that so?" William asked. "Then why don't you tell me Stern, how the hell do you think she's doing?"

"Yumi..." Ulrich called out to her again.

"You lied." she stated simply before turning back to face him. "You said she meant nothing to you and that you were just friends and now, I find out that you two are together and that you weren't truthful with me at all yesterday. To make matters worse, I have been publicly humiliated by a half-truthful story!"

"Yumi wait, let me explain."

"Save it Ulrich." she snapped. "I'm never speaking to you again."

Yumi pushed her way out of William's arms and ran across the courtyard, disappearing from sight.

"You're a real jackass Stern." William said before turning to run after Yumi

Ulrich sighed as he watched William go. "Could this day get any worse?" he wondered aloud.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** And so ends another chapter. Leave me a review or a pm to let me know what you thought about the chapter, or just to simply ask me any questions you may have in regards to the story. See you at the next update!**


	5. Power On

**Author's Note: ****Hey guys, I'm back with the next update and I can't wait to get it posted so I can read the reviews some of you are going to leave. Reviews are what encourage me to continue writing this story, so thanks to everyone who's been reviewing frequently. I really appreciate it.**

**Just another quick reminder, this story does not follow _Code Lyoko: Evolution_, so everything that's been occurring on the show does not happen in this story, although I will be introducing Laura at some later set point. Also, Aelita and Odd are not related in this story as I mentioned in the previous chapter. Okay, now let's get on with the update.**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own ****_Code Lyoko_, any of the series or any of the show's characters. They are all property of Moonscoop Productions and the writers/editors of the show. I do however own the plot of this story and all made up characters that will later be introduced to the plot. So please, no stealing :)**

* * *

"_**Power On"**_

Yumi panted heavily as she ran across the school courtyard. Her hair flapped wildly against her face and ears as tears continued to pour down her face. She could hear William calling out to her in the distance, his footsteps sounding heavy and quick, put she wouldn't pause to let him catch up to her. She needed some alone time to get herself together.

She passed through the front gates of the school and dashed across the street to the park. She didn't know where she was running to, but her feet continued to pull her forward. When she finally needed to stop and breathe, she paused and was relieved that she couldn't hear William chasing her any longer.

Suddenly, she got a strange feeling of deja vu. She looked around and took in her surroundings before letting out a gasp. She looked down at her feet and smiled at the sewer entrance the lead to the factory. Taking a deep breath, she crouched down and slid her fingers under the lid to slide the top off. The familiar smell of sewage and decay seeped up through the entrance before she latched onto the ladder to pull the lid closed over her head. She landed softly on the concrete walkway and let out a frustrated growl as she looked at the wall.

"I forgot we moved our skateboards." she said with a sigh. "Oh well, I could use the walk."  
Yumi took a deep breath before starting her long walk to the factory.

Back at the academy, Ulrich was standing outside Principal Delmas's office waiting for Sissi to come out. He would flinch every now and again at the sound of her father's screams echoing off the walls inside the room. Whatever he was saying, it was obviously in anger.

Sissi emerged from the office a few minutes later with flushed cheeks and a look of irritability on her face. She turned to Ulrich and sighed.

"I'm grounded for three weeks, can you believe that?"

"Grounded?" Ulrich repeated. "But what about the carnival tonight?"

"I convinced my dad to let me go for a few hours, so at least I can still go and hang out."

Ulrich nodded before staring off into space, his thoughts turning to the conversation he'd had with William and Yumi earlier. Sissi didn't fail to notice how his mood dropped.

"What happened?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yumi...she saw the picture of you and me."

Sissi grew quiet. "Oh." she said.

Ulrich shook his head before looking at her and smiling. "Let's not worry about her. Let's go to class."

Sissi smiled and nodded before lacing her hand into his so they could walk off together.

* * *

Aelita, Odd and Jeremy made their way out of the cafeteria and started walking towards the science building. Aelita sneezed squeakily earning a quick "bless you" from both boys.

"Coming down with a case of the sniffles are we princess?" Odd asked jokingly.

"I hope not." Aelita giggled. "I hate being sick."

"It's a part of being human." Jeremy pointed out before shoving his hands in his pockets. "We're all prone to catching illnesses."  
Odd looked up when he heard heavy footsteps approaching. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of William jogging toward them. He nudged Jeremy and Aelita and pointed, making the two of them look up.

"William, what's going on?" Aelita asked as he stopped running to catch his breath.

"Yumi..." he panted. "She...she saw that picture of Ulrich and Sissi and got upset. She ran off into the woods and I can't find her."

"We should probably head over there and look for her." Odd said worriedly.

William shook his head in disagreement. "We should give her some time to cool off. We can go looking for her after first period."

The other three were about to protest, but they agreed with his suggestion. Hell hath no furry like an angry Yumi and none of them were willing to suffer her wrath at the moment. They agreed to go after class and headed off to first period.

* * *

Yumi reached the end of the sewer tunnel in fifteen minutes flat. If she'd had her skateboard, she would have made it in half the time. She grabbed onto the prongs of the ladder and pulled herself up through the sliding hatch before making herself across the bridge.

"Wow..." she said as she entered the factory and looked around. "It's been a while since I've been here."

Yumi grabbed hold of a cable and swung down to the floor before heading over to the elevator. She pressed the red button once inside and smiled to herself as the elevator door slid shut and descended to the super computer room. Her phone vibrated noisily in her pocket as the elevator shook violently and she took the phone out to read the text.

**William: If u aren't back school in an hour, I'm coming 2 find u**

Yumi sighed and deleted the message as the elevator came to a halt. She flipped the keypad open and punched in the familiar code and the door slid open revealing the super computer room.

* * *

"Pass all homework to the front please and take out your notes." Mrs. William spoke. "We'll be discussing the Pythagorean theorem today."

Aelita sighed as she placed her assignment on the stack of homework and handed it to Sissi.

"What's wrong Aelita?" Jeremy asked as he handed his assignment in.

"I'm really worried about Yumi Jeremy. She has to be taking this pretty hard."

"Well, it is kind of her fault when you think about it."

Aelita's mouth fell open at the genius's words. "What do you mean it's her fault Jeremy?"

"Just think about it for a sec, okay? Yumi's liked Ulrich for quite some time, yet she didn't bother to make a move. Ulrich's guilty of the same thing, but he decided to move on and it appears that he and Sissi are...happy together."

Aelita growled in frustration as she gripped her pencil tightly. "I know Jeremy, but still...I always thought that-"

"Miss Stones," Mrs. Wililam's voice came from the front of the classroom, "could you stop talking and take out your notes please?"

"Yes, I am so sorry Mrs. Williams."

Across the classroom, Sissi was busy drawing hearts on the cover of her notebook while sitting happily beside Ulrich. He was sitting in his seat silently as he flipped through his textbook, his thoughts on a certain Japanese teen who still made his stomach do flips. How could his relationship with Sissi hurt her as much as it did? If they were friends as she claimed, she wouldn't have overreacted the way she had. Still, he couldn't deny how guilty he felt when he saw the look of hurt and hatred that swam through her eyes when he'd gone to talk to her.

"Ulrich?" Sissi whispered, pulling him out of his thoughts. "What's wrong?"

Ulrich ran a hand over his face. "Nothing Sissi, I'm just tired."

* * *

Yumi smiled as she walked over to the super computer chair. She hopped into it to take a seat and she smiled as the chair began to move around the holographic core towards the computer. She gasped when a model of Lyoko appeared.

"Wait a second." she said slowly. "That image of Lyoko's sectors shouldn't be there if the super computer's off."

The chair stopped moving and Yumi gasped as the super computer screen blinked to life. A web browser and several different programs had been pulled up. Yumi grabbed onto the mouse and clicked on a back file. The information bar was labeled A.O.F.H.

"What is this?" Yumi whispered as her eyes slowly scanned over the file.

There were folders labeled statistics, pictures, bio and log. Yumi clicked on the picture folder and gasped as an image of Franz Hopper appeared. She hit the next button and another image of him appeared. After three more minutes of clicking she sighed.

"All of these photos are of Franz Hopper. Guess the F.H. Stands for his initials, but what about the A.O.?"

Yumi hit the back arrow and clicked on the log folder. The logs were dated. There were five and the first was dated September 2nd, two days after the super computer had been shut down. Yumi opened the log and gasped at what she saw.

* * *

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Students filled the school halls as they slowly began their journeys to their next class. Odd, Jeremy and Aelita pushed their way through the crowded halls as they headed for the rear exit of the math and science building.

"Where did William say to meat him?" Aelita asked as she apologized quickly to someone she'd practically knocked over.

"Near the dumpsters." Odd said as he jumped over a girl who was bent over picking up her cell phone. They could hear Jim yelling from behind them not to run in the hallway but they continued on their pursuit to meet up with William. They burst through the back doors of the building and headed for the dumpsters. Aelita gagged and covered her nose as they stopped running to wait for William.

"It smells awful over here." she said in a nasally voice.

"Now my dear princess," Odd said as he held a finger up, "that is the stench of discovery. You can't be disgusted with that."

"No Odd, that's the stench of your favorite sneakers." Jeremy said jokingly as he and Aelita laughed. "That's why you're so accustomed to it."

Odd stuck is tongue out before preparing to make a comeback, but he's interrupted by the sounds of Wililam's boots approaching. They looked up and he nodded at them.

"Let's head for the park." he said as he took off running.

* * *

"September second...Today is the day I launched my new program A.O.F.H. I have turned the Super Computer back on and I will begin my hunt for Franz Hopper immediately. Jeremy keeps telling me to give up hope because he's gone but...I don't believe him, not even a little bit. So it appeared that he sacrificed himself on Lyoko, but that doesn't mean he's gone forever. I will spend a lot of time here at the factory searching for my father. Let operation Franz Hopper begin."

The video diary ends as the screen is covered with static. Yumi stared at the screen where her bubblegum, pink-haired friend had been moments before.

"Aelita turned the super computer back on." Yumi stated as the wheels began turning in her head. "How could Jeremy not know about this? His laptop super scan would have gone off. Then again...X.A.N.A. Has been destroyed...hasn't he?"

As though by coincidence, a familiar beeping began blaring from the monitor of the super computer. Yumi gasped and looked back at the screen as a new window popped open and several see-through models of Lyoko towers appeared. Each of them would appear then reappear as they changed from green to red, then back to green again. The super scan was running.

"Oh no, this can't be good." Yumi said nervously as the scan halted. The results of the scan revealed that there is an activated tower in the ice sector.

"There's an activated tower, but how?"

Remembering her super computer training, Yumi began opening several different programs until she found the self-virtualization program. She started a thirty second countdown and jumped up from the chair. As she entered the elevator she sent a quick forward to her friends about the tower. She then exited the elevator and made it into a scanner just in time to be virtualized. The doors slid shut and she was overcome by a familiar weightless feeling as she was virtualized onto Lyoko.

* * *

"How far in do you think she ran?" Odd asked William as he and the others jogged through the woods.

"She was pretty upset." William answered. "My guess is, she ran where we wouldn't find her."

"Maybe we should check the hermitage?" Aelita suggested. "We haven't been there in months."

"That's a great idea." Jeremy said.

Just as they all prepared to make a turn towards the hermitage, their cell phones began beeping. They paused an exchanged glances before answering their texts.

"S.O.S. X.A.N.A." they all shouted in shock.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Odd asked as his eyes bulged.

"Yumi wouldn't joke about something as serious as X.A.N.A." William pointed out.

"But Xana no longer exists." Jeremy pointed out. "My program wiped him out and I even double-checked to make sure. This has to be a prank."

Aelita stared at her screen before closing her phone. She then reached into her backpack and pulled out her tablet. Her fingers moved hurriedly over the touch screen and she gasped a few seconds later.

"Yumi isn't joking. We have to get to Lyoko now."

"Aelita?" Jeremy said as he took a step forward. "What is that."

"My mini super scan." she answered with a sigh. "I created the program after turning on the super computer again."

"You did what?" Jeremy shouted.

"Let's head for the Hermitage passage." Odd suggested as he took off running. "It's closer than the sewer entrance is right now."

* * *

Sissi and Ulrich were sitting on the gang's usual bench watching the other students in the courtyard. Several kids were surrounding Milly and Tamia as they questioned them about their latest scoop. The two reporters were giggling happily from the amount of attention they'd been receiving.

Sissi took a deep breath and rested her head on Ulrich's shoulder. "Where are the others?" she wondered aloud.

"I don't know." Ulrich shrugged as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I saw the three of them run out of the classroom earlier and that's last I saw them."

"Could they have gone to the cafeteria?" Sissi wondered.

"Maybe. Odd does have hunger emergencies from time to time."

The conversation was put on hold when Ulrich's message tone reached their ears. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and flipped the phone open to read his message. When he read it over, his eyes widened with horror.

"Sissi...I have to go. Something just came up."

"But Ulrich, we have class in ten minutes." Sissi pointed out as she lifted her head from his shoulder.

"Sissi, it's an emergency. Could you cover for me?"

Sissi blinked a few times as he stood to his feet. "I guess so."

Ulrich thanked her before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and running out of the courtyard towards the park.

Sissi sighed as she watched him go. "Well, I guess I'll be walking to class alone."

Sissi stood to her feet and squeaked in pain as a painful shock jolted through her leg. She reached into her pocket and was shocked another time, making her eyes water. She pulled out her cell phone and frowned at the realization that the screen had been cracked and it was sizzling as though the circuits had been fried.

"What in the world? Well this is just perfect! I just got this phone yesterday!"

Sissi threw the cell phone to the grown and stormed off towards the English hall. Left behind and abandoned, the phone's screen turned white as the cracks bled X.A.N.A.'s symbol onto the screen.

* * *

**Author's Note: ****And so ends another chapter. Is XANA really back or is the super scan simply malfunctioning? And what about Ulrich and Sissi? Is their relationship really what it appears to be or is something else happening? How will the gang react to being back on Lyoko after being away for so long? Well, to figure out the answer to these questions and more, leave me a review and wait patiently for the next chapter. See you guys at the next update!**


	6. Activated Tower

**Author's Note:**** Hello everyone, I'm back after being absent for about a month. I hope you all aren't too upset with me, but I had to move my stuff out of my dorm and home for the summer since I'm not taking any college courses, plus I have a job now so it takes up a majority of time. No worries though, I'm back with the next chapter and I hope you're all looking forward to reading it.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own the series ****_Code Lyoko_ or any of the show's characters. They are property of _Moonscoop _productions and the creators of the show. I did however come up with this plot completely on my own so it, along with the made up characters and character relationships, were all my ideas. So please, no stealing.**

* * *

"_**Activated Tower"**_

Yumi's avatar pixelated slowly in mid air as she was digitally transferred onto Lyoko. Once she was completely loaded, she fell from the sky and landed just as she has done several times before. Yumi stood to her feet slowly and looked around as she took in her surroundings: the ice sector.

"I should have probably loaded the over wing and checked for the exact location of the activated tower." she groaned as she mentally slapped herself. "Looks like I have searching to do. I just hope XANA can sit tight until then.

Yumi reached behind her back and slid her fans out from beneath her bow.

"Why, hello there my little darlings. Did you miss me?"

Yumi took a firm hold of her fans to ensure they wouldn't slip out of her grasp before running towards the first tower that came to mind.

* * *

Odd and William ran ahead of Jeremy and Aelita across the factory bridge and jumped onto the hanging ceiling ropes to swing down to the concrete floor. Aelita and Jeremy fell in step beside them a few seconds later as they all boarded the elevator.

"I can't believe you turned the super computer back on!" Jeremy shouted angrily as the elevator door slid closed. "We all agreed to leave it off."

"I'm sorry Jeremy, but I had to know what happened to my father. Besides, none of this would be happening if your program had wiped out XANA like you designed it to. How was I supposed to know that he still existed?"

"Aelita, your father sacrificed himself for you on Lyoko. That much I am sure of. As for my program, I was almost certain it had worked."

"Will the two of you calm down?" Odd groaned as the elevator door slid back open. "You're giving me such a headache!"

Jeremy stepped out of the elevator and ran over to the computer chair. He began typing as soon as his fingers hit the keyboard. The others heard a small beep and exited the elevator to get a view of what was happening on the virtual world. Yumi's warrior card could be seen along with a green triangle that indicated her current position.

"She materialized herself?" Williams said with slight surprise in his voice.

"Yeah, and she did a good job getting herself there too." Jeremy commented as he set up a communication link. "Yumi, this is Jeremy. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Jeremy." Yumi's voice came as a response through the speakers.

"Yumi, why on earth did you go to Lyoko alone?" William asked worriedly. "You should have waited."

"I'm sorry everyone, I just had to make sure this wasn't a hoax. Don't worry, so far, I haven't seen a single monster since arriving in the ice sector."

"Stay where you are Yumi." Jeremy instructed her. "I'm sending the others along with the vehicles. I would assume you're tired of running?"

Yumi replied with a laugh as the others ran towards the scanners.

"Yahoo!" Odd cheered as the elevator door slid closed for a third time. "I haven't been this excited in weeks!"

A few minutes later, Aelita's voice came through the speakers of the computer announcing that she, William and Odd were ready to be materialized. Jeremy stretched his arms above his head before beginning the virtualization process.

"Scanner Odd, scanner Aelita, scanner William. Transfer Odd, transfer Aelita, transfer William. Virtualization."

A few short seconds later, the three Lyoko warriors had landed in the ice sector beside Yumi and their vehicles were materializing in front of them.

"Why, hello there Yumi." Odd said cheerfully. "I have to say, I'm a little hurt. How could you run off and leave your best buddies behind?"

Yumi giggled as they all walked towards their vehicles. "I'm sorry guys, I just needed a little time to myself. I'm okay now though, don't worry. So Aelita, do you mind explaining your little project?"

Aelita sighed as she waved a wrist over her watch to release her wings. "I had to be sure my father was gone. I'm sorry I never said anything to you guys about turning the computer back on. It's just that...I never expected for XANA to still be alive and well."

"You guys, enough chit chat." Jeremy's voice came from the sky. "Go and deactivate the tower, now."

"Alright Einstein." Odd sighed as he jumped onto the over board. "There's no need to get so bossy."

Yumi jumped onto the over wing as William prepared to get onto the over bike.

"Not so fast William." Jeremy's voice came before he could take a seat. "Hop onto the over wing with Yumi. Ulrich's going to need his bike to catch up with you guys when he gets here."

"Ulrich's coming?" Yumi asked, her mood suddenly dropping.

"Yes Yumi, he's a member of this team too. Look, I know the two of you are going through a disagreement right now, but you're going to have to forget about it for now. XANA is more important then some spat over Sissi and that article this morning."

"Jeremy's right." Aelita agreed with a nod. "Now, where's the activated tower?"

"Yumi was already on the right path. Continue on straight and you should reach it soon. Oh yeah, don't forget to keep an eye out for monsters."

* * *

"Where in the world did Ulrich go?" Sissi grumbled as she wandered aimlessly through the park. "Ulrich, where are you?"

When she received no reply, Sissi growled angrily. The guy obviously wasn't anywhere close to her. With a heavy sigh, she turned on her heels and began marching back to the academy.

Suddenly, something bright flashed in front of her, pulling a screech out of her throat as she jumped out of the way. Sissi landed on her stomach near a set of bushes and looked over her shoulder at the bright light. She raised her hands to cover her head as the light cracked above her head.

"Someone help me!" she shouted as tears burned at the corners of her eyes.

The light released a noise similar to a power surge making Sissi's screaming louder. Before she could even comprehend what was going on, a painful shock jolted through her body making her form twitch painfully as her screams subsided. When the light died down, her body lay still on the ground.

* * *

"Keep up the pace guys." Jeremy spoke. "You should see the tower within the next four minutes."

"Roger that Einstein." Odd's reply came.

Jeremy released a small chuckle, but stopped his laughing as the elevator door opened another time. He smiled when Ulrich's face appeared inside the elevator.

"Is this really happening Jeremy?" Ulrich asked with heavy dread in his voice.

"I'm afraid so Ulrich." Jeremy sighed. "My program didn't completely wipe XANA out and he's managed to launch an attack. There's no time to explain what's going on though. You need to head down to the scanners and fast."

Ulrich nodded before hitting the elevator button to head down to the scanner room. He announced his arrival a few seconds later and Jeremy wasted no time materializing the swords master.

"Transfer Ulrich, scanner Ulrich, virtualization."

* * *

"There's the tower." William said as he pointed at the large structure, his other arm remaining wrapped around Yumi's waist.

"Wait a second everyone." Aelita said, her eyes wide. "Do you see what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah," Odd replied, "the aura around the tower is the same color as my suit."

"Hey Jeremy," Yumi spoke, "any idea what a purple aura means when surrounding an activated tower?"

There was a brief pause before the computer genius spoke again. "Aelita, give me a visual."

Aelita did as she was told and sent an image of the strange tower to Jeremy. There was another moment of silence as Jeremy got to work analyzing the situation.

"I'm going to need a little time to do some research." he admitted finally. "Why don't you see if you can gain entry to the tower Aelita?"

"It's worth a try." she said putting her wings away.

The pink-haired pixie walked over to the tower and place her right hand on it cautiously before pulling herself inside the tower. The remaining three Lyoko warriors stepped off their vehicles and took a seat on the frozen ground.

"Man, I've really missed this place." Odd sighed contently as he lay on his back. "My life hasn't been the same without it."

The three of them turned around as the sounds of the over bike reached their ears. Yumi's face falls at the sight of him approaching.

"Well, there's no telling how long Aelita and Jeremy are going to be investigating the situation." she spoke as she turned to her two friends. "William, want to go for a walk?"

William nodded, understanding her sudden desire to leave the area. "Sure thing. I could use a little exercise."

The two of them stood to their feet and headed away from the tower, leaving Odd alone to greet the newcomer.

Ulrich's bike skidded to a stop beside the other two vehicles and he stepped off.

"Hey Odd." he greeted his purple cat friend. "Do you mind explaining to me what's going on? Jeremy didn't even bother skimming over the details."

"It's rather simple really Ulrich. Aelita turned the computer back on to search for her father only to discover that Jeremy's program hadn't wiped out XANA after all, hence why there's an activated tower currently. As for the reason why it's purple, we've yet to figure that out."

Ulrich nodded as he took in the information. Suddenly, another thought crossed his mind.

"Yumi's still so mad at me." he sighed as he took a seat on the ground beside Odd. "Odd, I really screwed up."

"I'll say." Odd nodded, only to receive a smack on the arm. "Oh, come on Ulrich, this situation is kind of your fault. You spent all that time loving and caring for Yumi only to end up with Sissi, someone you've kind of despised since coming to Kadic? I mean, Sissi's cool and all, don't get me wrong. Plus, the two of you are getting along great judging by the fact that you're currently dating, but Ulrich...what you and Yumi have...once that's gone, I don't think you're ever going to get it back."

Ulrich growled in frustration. "I hate this Odd. Every time I try and do something for myself, someone winds up getting hurt somehow. I mean, I'm not trying to be selfish but-"

Ulrich was cut off mid-sentence as the ground began shaking violently. Ulrich and Odd were knocked onto their backs by the force of the shaking.

"Jeremy, what's going on?" Ulrich shouted as he tried to push himself up onto his feet.

"I don't know." Jeremy admitted. "Aelita, leave the tower at once. Something strange is going on."

Aelita emerged from the tower a few short seconds later, her face panic-stricken. She looked at Ulrich and Odd and gasped at the realization that two familiar faces were missing.

"Where are Yumi and William?" she shouted over the loud shaking.

"Oh no!" Jeremy shouted. "It's the Colossus."

"Which direction is it in?" Odd asked as he jumped onto the over board to get off the shaking ground.

"It's south east from your current location." Jeremy announced.

Odd's eyes widened at the coordinates. "That's the same direction that Yumi and William walked off in." he said with realization.

At the mentioning of Yumi's name, Ulrich boarded the over bike and revved the engine twice before speeding off in the direction as Odd and Aelita followed closely behind.

* * *

Yumi growled angrily and threw her hands up in the air as her mouth moved a mile a minute. William walked beside her silently as he allowed her to vent.

"The sight of him makes me want to stick pins in my eyes!" she shouted.

"I know what you mean." William said with a smirk. "Now you know how I've always felt about him."

Yumi managed to laugh at his comment. "The two of you can be so immature. You always wound up doing something that would set him off."

The two of them started laughing, but their happiness was cut short as the ground began shaking. Yumi lost her balance and fell into William, knocking them both onto the ground.

"What's going on?" she asked in a shaky voice as the shaking grew more and more violent.

William looked over her head and his mouth fell open. "what the hell is that thing?" he asked as he raised an arm to point behind her.

Yumi sat up to look at the source of William's shock and gasped. "It's the Colossus!" she shouted.

"I'm sorry, the what?" William asked as he scratched the back of his head.

"I'm surprised you don't remember him." Yumi said jokingly. "The two of you were such great pals while you were under XANA's control. You would ride on his shoulder."

Another rumble erupted in the ground as the Colossus took another step and Yumi and William were knocked over a second time.

As soon as they could steady themselves and stand back on their feet, Yumi pulled her fans back out and William's sword materialized in his right hand as he rested it on his shoulder.

"Let's move." Yumi instructed as she ran towards the enormous creature.

William watched Yumi run towards the monster to see what her tactic would be and that's when he noticed the Colossus catch sight of Yumi. The monster released a loud roar that made his ears ring as it lifted one of its arms into the air above where Yumi was running.

"Yumi, lookout!" William shouted as he dashed towards the distracted teen.

Yumi looked up just in time to see the Colossus's arm quickly closing down upon her. She released a scream as William's body collided into hers, knocking her to the ground and out of the way of the Colossus's arm.

Yumi groaned as her back hit the icy pavement. William quickly rolled off of her and back onto his feet before helping her back up.

"Thanks William." she said breathlessly as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"Don't thank me just yet." he said as he pointed back at the creature.

The Colossus had lifted its other arm and was preparing for its next assault. The two of them quickly moved out of the way as its arm hit the ground, its impact releasing a giant wave of air that knocked the two of them back just slightly.

"Yumi, William!" Aelita's voice came from the distance. The two of them look over their shoulder and spy Aelita approaching with Odd and Ulrich.

"Well hey there." Odd greeted as they all met up. "How come you started the party without us?"

"I hardly think this is the time to be joking Odd." Yumi snapped.

"Guys," Jeremy's voice came, "you have some surprise visitors. There's a swarm of hornets and two megatanx heading your way."

The sound of distant buzzing could be heard as the five Lyoko warriors took on fighting stances.

"Alright guys," Ulrich spoke, "William, Odd and I are going to take care of the Colossus. Aelita, you and Yumi can handle the new arrivals."

Everyone nodded in agreement, differences put aside, as they broke apart to take care of the assault.

Yumi's eyes narrowed in concentration at the sight of three hornets approaching her. They began firing mercilessly, forcing her to kart wheel out of harm's way. As soon as she was out of the firing range, she tossed one of her fans with such a brute force, it took out all three at once, slicing through their midsections. Yumi's focus then went to another group of hornets. She released her second fan as she caught the first fan with her free hand and she smiled as the new swarm suffered the same fate as the last. Yumi proceeded to take down five more hornets, her fans releasing their own battle cry as they sliced through each of them, taking down the fleet of hornets in a matter of minutes.

A few feet away, Aelita was in the air again floating on her wings as she evaded the laser walls being released by the two megatanx. She watched intently as their shells closed up, their eyes appearing as they scanned the area for any sign of the pink-haired guardian of Lyoko. Aelita landed in front of one the tanks and watched as its shell opened, revealing its main eye. Aelita quickly gathered an energy field and fired at the target, getting a bull's eye. The megatanx exploded but just before she could celebrate her victory, the second megatanx fired, its blast striking one of her wings. Aelita screamed fearfully as she began spiraling towards the ground. Her body slammed into the hard ice like a rag doll and skidded across the ground. Aelita groaned and lifted her head weakly. She could hear Yumi's fans release a saw-like groan along with a loud explosion that she assumed was the megatanx.

"Aelita?" Yumi's voice came a few seconds later. "You have to get out of the way. The megatanx is going to fire again!"

Aelita gasped at the realization that Yumi hadn't hit the megatanx after all. Sure enough, the sound of its laser could be heard as it charged itself for a second attack. Aelita rolled over quickly and gasped as another red laser wall zapped towards her. Just before she could be devirtualized, a familiar set of purple-clawed gloves grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way.

"Well hey there Aelita." Odd said as he pulled her onto the over board. "Sleeping on the job are we?"

"Thanks Odd." she muttered as she sat upright on the edge of his board.

Odd flashed her a quick smile before landing the board to let her off. "Be careful princess." he called out to her as he rode back towards the megatanx.

"Hey old buddy." he said as he jumped onto the tank and loaded an arrow. "I'd like to catch up, but I'd rather cut this little reunion short. Laser arrow!"

The megatanx rolled back and exploded as Odd's arrow made impact with the target. Odd landed skillfully on his feet and gave Aelita a thumbs up.

"Now princess, can you stay out of harm's way while I go and help the others with the Colossus?"

Aelita folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow as her lips curved up into a smile. Odd waved before dashing towards the Colossus.

"How's it going?" he shouted to Ulrich who was busy super sprinting up the creature's arm.

"Super Odd." he shouted back. "Now, give us a hand!"

"Sure thing buddy." Odd said as he jumped back onto the over board. Odd sped towards the creature and leaned back to put the board into vertical mode.

"Can you reach the target on its head?" William asked as Odd passed him. "That may be our only chance of defeating it."

"I got it covered." Odd said as he placed his paws on the accelerators. Odd zipped past Ulrich and up to the head of the Colossus. "Man oh man, is this thing ugly." he shouted as his face scrunched up. The Colossus responded with a loud growl, the sound waves knocking Odd off the over board.

"Yuck! Have you ever heard of breath mints?" Odd said jokingly as he fell onto the Colossus's foot.

Odd looked down at Odd from his place on the Colossus's shoulder before looking up at the monster's face. "Triplicate!" he shouted as he released two clones of himself. He stared at his two clones and pointed up at the monster's head.

"One of us is bound to make it to the target on its head." he spoke. The two clones nodded before sprinting up the monster's arm. Ulrich sighed before doing the same.

One of the clones glared at William in disgust as they caught sight of him running up the Colossus's other arm. The clone turned away from William and leaned forward, increasing the speed of its super sprint. The Colossus released another growl as the first clone jumped quickly onto its shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," the clone snapped, "I heard you the first time."

The clone took hold of its sword tightly and with a smirk, he flipped the sword over and jabbed its shining blade into the colossus's arm. The creature let out a painful scream as it lifted its other arm to grasp the wound. Williams yelped in surprise as the arm moved him to the other arm where the three Ulrich clones were busy with the Colossus. He smirked at the sight of the first clone being smashed and devirtualized by the Colossus's arm. His smirk was wiped off his face though at the realization the Colossus was falling over. William held onto the creature's arm as he braced himself for impact. The ground shook even more violently than it had before and William could swear he saw parts of the ice sector devirtualized from the strong impact. Aelita and Yumi could be heard screaming as they were knocked onto their backs. William looked and saw that both of Ulrich's clones had managed to be devirtualized and Ulrich had been knocked off of the Colossus and was laying on the ice near Odd. William looked up from his place on the monster's arm and spied the target on its head. He quickly ran to the target and lifted his sword above his head before jabbing it deep within the eye.

Ulrich and the others looked up as the creature slowly began to devirtualize. When it was gone, the five of them were left standing on the ice.

"William destroyed the Colossus." Yumi smiled. "And it was about time too."

"Good job William." Odd said as he patted the older teen on the back. "I was beginning to think we'd never get rid of him."

"It was no problem at all." William smiled as he hoisted his blade back onto his shoulder. He passed by Ulrich who shot him a jealous glare as he made his way over to Yumi.

"So, what now?" Odd asked. "Should we head back to the tower?"

"Negative." Jeremy's voice came. "Aelita gathered a little bit of data from the tower when she touched the screen. I'm going to pull you guys back in until I can decipher the data. Materialization William, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and Aelita. Code, earth."

* * *

**Author's Note: ****And so ends chapter 6. What kind of information did Aelita gather from the tower and why was it purple when activated? What attacked Sissi in the park and is she going to be okay? Well, the answer to these questions and more lie in the next chapter. So, go ahead and review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. If you have any questions in regards to the story, go ahead and shoot me a PM so I can answer them in depth if needed. Well, what are you waiting for? Review!**


	7. Wedge

**Author's Note:**** Here's the next chapter you guys and I hope you're all excited to find out what's going to happen next. Thank you so much to everyone who's been reviewing because your reviews or private messages let me know what you think of the story thus far and it gives me an idea of where I want to go next with things. For those of you who are confused by anything that's happening, please feel free to let me know. **

**To clear this up one last time, this story does not follow the Code Lyoko Evolution storyline at all. _Code Lyoko Evolution _is set two years after the end of season 4 but my story takes place a few months after season 4. The events in my story will not tie into those of the current series because this idea was developed before I was aware of the new season. So to those of you who were confused or have an issue with that, my fanfic isn't related to the new season.**

**Also to clear things up, I do not hate Yumi and Ulrich's relationship. In fact, I love it. So to those of you who wonder why I'm playing an extreme and evil game of volleyball with the two of them, don't fret. Things are going to change eventually. For those of you who like Ulrich and Sissi, I like them together too lol**

**Now that I got this super long author's note out of the way, let's get on with the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own the ****_Code Lyoko _series or any of the show's characters and aspects. I do however own the plot of this fanfic since the idea is solely mine. I also own any made-up characters or places that will be mentioned over the course of this fanfic. So please, no stealing my ideas. Thank you!**

* * *

"_**Wedge"**_

Yumi sighed with relief as the doors of her scanner slid open. Her head was pounding against her skull and she could feel her heart beating in her throat. Her ears rang loudly as she took one wobbly step out of the scanner and collapsed onto her knees. Yep, she'd definitely been rematerialized.

She groaned as she was overcome with a wave of nausea only to be joined by another groan. She lifted her head slowly and managed to force a smile at the sight of Odd face planted on the metal floor, his arms sprawled out in front of him. Aelita was curled up in a ball inside the scanner opposite hers.

"H-hey..." she managed to get out as she swallowed the vomit beckoning to arise in her throat. "Are you two okay?"

Aelita grumbled something as she army crawled out of her scanner and laid on the floor. Odd remained where he was not bothering to move or make a sound.

Yumi looked up as the scanner behind Odd began humming, its doors closed. They opened seconds later and Ulrich fell out, catching himself with his hands. Yumi barely had time to react as she heard the scanner open behind her. She let out a surprised yelp as William fell out, landing on top of her.

The raven-haired teenager giggled as she rolled William off of her.

"William, do me a favor and lay off the hamburgers during lunch time, will ya? You're extremely heavy."

"Look who's talking." William mumbled as he managed to get himself into a sitting position.

The conversation came to a halt as the elevator door slid open revealing Jeremy.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked worriedly as he went to check on Aelita.

"I'm alright. Yumi spoke up. "Just a little dizzy. It's been a while since we've been virtualized."

"What she said." came William's reply as he ran a hand over his face.

"Come on guys. Let's get Odd and Aelita upstairs." Jeremy suggested. "The two of them are out cold."

The three warriors nodded and collected themselves before following Jeremy into the elevator.

**Super Computer Room**

Jeremy's fingers hurriedly moved across the keyboard as his eyes read over the data Aelita gathered from the purple tower. Aelita and Odd were lying upright against the wall still unconscious as Ulrich sat beside them texting Theo.

"Major deja vu, huh Einstein?" Ulrich said, breaking ten minutes of silence.

"Most definitely." Jeremy laughed. "Us missing class and sleeping in the factory every night just to get the upper hand on XANA."

"So, he really is back." Ulrich sighed.

Jeremy pushed his glasses up onto his nose as he gave a curt nod. "Afraid so, but after reading through the data Aelita gathered, I realized it is entirely my fault."

"Your program didn't wipe him out?"

"Oh no Ulrich, it did wipe XANA out. I just never considered the fact that a new XANA or a program like him could have been created."

Jeremy removed his glasses and set them on the keyboard as he rubbed his temples. Ulrich closed his phone and stood to walk over to Jeremy.

"So, this new XANA is responsible for the purple aura around the tower?" Ulrich questioned the genius.

"I wish I could confirm that." Jeremy sighed. "Aelita and I didn't have time to try and deactivate the tower. Besides, as far as I know, there wasn't any kind of attack on the earth. We'll leave the tower be for the time being."

The two teens' conversation came to a stand still as Aelita released a groan of discomfort from her place on the floor

"Ugh, my head." Aelita said as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Hey there princess." Odd said jokingly as he too awoke from his slumber. "Nap time for you too huh?"

"I guess so." she replied as she rubbed her eyes.

"Hey you two." Ulrich said with a smile. "Welcome back to earth."

Odd stood up on wobbly legs and helped Aelita up as soon as he steadied himself.

"I don't remember feeling this sick the first time we went to Lyoko." Odd whined as Aelita leaned against him for support.

"Give it a few minutes." Ulrich said reassuringly. "You'll feel better, I promise."

"Where are Yumi and William?" Aelita questioned as she looked around the room.

"Who knows? They went off together after Jeremy rematerialized us." Ulrich said with a shrug and slight venom in his voice.

"You don't seem too happy about them spending time together." Aelita noted as she took in the expression on his face. "Care to explain why?"

"Yeah buddy, what gives?" Odd asked. "I thought you had moved on from Yumi to Sissi. Why are you so jealous?"

"For your information, I have moved on." Ulrich snapped. "However...Yumi is still my friend and I care about her. I think she's too good for William."

"Oh, come on Ulrich." Aelita said. "There's nothing going on between the two of them. William and Yumi are good friends and given what she's been through, she really needs a friend like him."

"Sure, whatever." Ulrich grumbled.

"Enough drama." Jeremy said as he motioned for Odd and Aelita to approach the super computer. "The two of you need to know what we've found out. The original XANA was destroyed by my program, but there was enough time before he was destroyed for another XANA program to be created."

"This isn't good." Aelita said. "We'll have to do more research in the Lyoko network to figure things out."

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Jeremy said. "We have to wait twelve hours before sending you guys back to Lyoko. So for now, why don't you guys head back to the school and get ready for the carnival? I'll stay here and look through more of the data Aelita gathered from the tower.

"Wait a second!" Odd exclaimed. "We can't leave until we give this new XANA program a name."

"Odd, we aren't going to give this new program one of your ridiculous names." Ulrich protested.

"Ridiculous, hah! If my made-up names are so ridiculous, why do we continue to call the Colossus, Creepers, Kankerlots and all of Lyoko's other monsters by the names I gave them?"

"He's made a pretty good point Ulrich." Jeremy said with a smile.

Ulrich rolled his eyes. "Okay then Odd, what do you want to call this new agent?"

Odd rubbed his chin as he gave the question serious thought. "Well...since there is only one XANA as of right now, we can continue to call the program XANA, but I think it should have a more unique name like...Double-X."

"That sounds like some kind of secret agent name." Ulrich said, shooting the idea down.

"Got anything better in mind then Mr. Grinch?" Odd said jokingly as he stuck his tongue out.

"Will you two give it a rest." Aelita snapped. "You're making my headache even worse. I want to get rid of this pain so I can enjoy the carnival with you two and Sissi. I refuse to listen to this unnecessary bickering while we're out."

"Fine, conversation is over." Ulrich agreed as he headed for the elevator. "Let's get going. We have an hour to get ready to go."

"Keep us posted Jeremy." Aelita called over her shoulder to Jeremy as she and Odd joined Ulrich on the elevator.

Jeremy gave them a thumbs up as he disappeared behind the closed doors. The elevator shook violently before gently ascending up to the main floor. Ulrich pulled out his cell and dialed Sissi's number. He waited patiently for her to pick up, but sighed when he was answered by her voice mail.

"No answer." he said with slight surprise in his voice.

"She could be getting ready." Aelita suggested. "Don't worry about it."

The elevator stopped and the door slid open, releasing the three heroes. They all headed for the stairs and walked out over the bridge. They could hear laughter at the bridge's end.

Yumi and William were sitting on the ledge of the bridge laughing happily. The very sight made Ulrich's blood boil.

"There you two are." Aelita greeted happily with a wave.

William and Yumi looked up and spied their new visitors. Yumi's mood fell at the sight of Ulrich. William didn't fail to notice and he wrapped an arm around her waist comfortingly.

"Jeremy gave us the okay to scram." Odd explained. "So we're heading back to the school to get ready for the carnival."

"Sounds like a plan." William responded. "We'll see you guys there."

"You two are going together?" Ulrich spoke up.

"Yes, we are." William replied. "Friends are allowed to go out and do things together, aren't they?"

Ulrich's reply was a grumble that made William smirk.

Aelita and Odd headed for the sewer as Ulrich remained behind.

"Yumi, can I talk to you for a second?" he asked as he shot William a warning glance.

"Ulrich, I don't feel like speaking to you right now." Yumi snapped. "Could you please just leave."

Ulrich sighed. "Okay, I understand. Maybe later?"

Yumi shrugged and looked away from him. Ulrich sighed before turning to follow after Aelita and Odd.

"You really should have talked to him, you know?" William said. "You could have gotten all of your pent up feelings out in the open."

"I know it would have been the right thing to do, but feeling the way I feel now...I'd only end up hurting him more than I necessarily should. I mean...I'm angry with him for lying to me but...that doesn't stop me for caring for him..."

"When you get the time to cool down, you and Ulrich will make-up and be friends again. I promise." William said as he gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "So, want to head back to Kadic so we can get ready for the carnival?"

"Nah, let's go check on Jeremy first." Yumi suggested. "I don't want to leave without making sure he's okay."

William nodded before standing from the ledge and helping Yumi to her feet. The two of them then headed back into the factory.

**Woods**

Odd emerged from the sewer and reached back in to help Aelita out. Her tiny hand grasped onto his tightly as he slowly puled her out. She thanked him before moving out of the way for Ulrich to emerge.

"Sissi still isn't answering her phone." Ulrich said with worry as he pushed the lid back over the sewer entrance.

"We're almost back to campus." Aelita spoke as they began walking. "We can go and check on her when we get back."

"Wait a second." Odd said, stopping the two of them in their tracks as he pointed ahead of them.

The three of them look forward and spy an arm poking out from beneath a bush.

"Hello?" Aelita called out to the person. "Are you okay?"

When they received no reply, they headed for the bush and gasped when they spotted Sissi laying on the ground unconscious, her face covered with dirt and scratches. Ulrich kneeled down and checked her over before gathering her in his arms and gently shaking her. Her eyes fluttered open after the first couple of shakes.

"Oh my God, Sissi, are you alright?" he questioned her.

Sissi groaned and place a hand to her forehead. "My head is killing me, but I'm fine."

Ulrich helped Sissi onto her feet and watched as she dusted herself off.

"What happened Sissi?"Aelita questioned the girl.

"I came out here to look for Ulrich after class and...I tripped." she said, stumbling over her words. "Well...at least I think I did."

"Let's get you to the infirmary." Ulrich said as he wrapped his arm around hers.

"No Ulrich, I'm fine. I just need an aspirin, a glass of water and a quick shower and I'll be set for the carnival tonight."

Ulrich stared at her worriedly. Something was definitely troubling her, but she wasn't going to come out and say it. With a shrug, he lead her back to the school.

**Kadic Academy**

Aelita smiled in adoration at her reflection in her full-length mirror. She looked absolutely stunning in her new outfit just like Sissi said she would. To add one final touch to her outfit, she retrieved her make-up bag to complete her transformation. She was in the middle of putting on her mascara when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in." she replied as she finished her eyebrows and screwed the cap back on the small bottle.

Yumi walked into the room and smiled at her friend's reflection in the mirror.

"Well, someone looks absolutely stunning this evening." she complimented her friend.

Aelita giggled as she applied a thin coating of glitter gloss to her pale lips. She pursed them a few times to spread the gel out.

"Thanks Yumi. That means a lot coming from you."

"I mean it Aelita. You look gorgeous. Are you...trying to impress someone this evening?"

A blush quickly spread across the girl's cheeks as she began putting her items back in the make-up bag.

"Can't a girl look nice when going out with her friends?" she asked.

Yumi laughed at the flustered look on her friend's face. "Yeah, I guess so. I hope you all have a good time at the carnival tonight."

Aelita raised an eyebrow and turned around to frown at her older friend. "Wait a second Yumi, aren't you going tonight?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be there, but I doubt we'll be seeing much of each other. I'm going with William."

"What difference does that make? Yumi, you and William are more than welcome to join our group outing."

Yumi shook her head in protest as she walked across the room to take a seat at Aelita's desk. "No thanks Aelita. I'd rather stay away from Ulrich for a while."

"Come on Yumi, you and Ulrich were best friends once upon a time. What, can you two not be around each other because he's involved with Sissi now?"

"It's not that Aelita. It's just that...after everything we've been through together, how could he just lie to my face like that. I hate being lied to, you know that. It's such a shameful act and it's really made me lose trust in him."

Aelita smirked. "Are you sure this has nothing to do with him dating Sissi and not you?"

Yumi silently stood to her feet and began walking to the door, but Aelita wasn't about to let her friend go that easily. The pink-haired princes dashed towards the door and held up a hand to stop Yumi from leaving.

"Yumi, I've known you for a while now too. I know the fact that they're dating bothers you. Why won't you just admit it?"

"Aelita...I don't understand what he sees in her. I mean, I've already talked to him about his feelings towards her. He detested her for such a long time that it's hard for me to believe that he likes her. What does it matter now anyways? The guy practically told me that without Lyoko in our lives, our friendship means nothing."

"Key word being practically Yumes." Aelita smiled. "Look, you and Ulrich have always had a complicated friendship. Don't let one person divide and conquer your live. Who cares that Ulrich and Sissi are dating now? You two are still friends, and at the end of the day, that's all that should matter. Yumi, Ulrich still cares about you an awful lot. I mean, when he read Milly and Tamia's article this morning, the first thing he wanted to do was find you and explain himself. Then there was our mission to Lyoko. Ulrich was concerned when he found out you went in the same area the Colossus was in. Yiumi, whether you want to believe it or not, he still cares about you. So stop pushing him away because of your jealousy."

Aelita studied Yumi as the older girl averted her gaze to a wall opposite them. Tears were beginning to pool at the brim of her eyes.

"You're right." she said, her voice choked up. "What kind of person am I? Ulrich has been trying to reach out to me since this whole thing started and I've been a complete bitch to him. He must hate me."

"He doesn't hate you Yumes, he's just upset that you'd rather confide in William about how much he's hurt you rather than telling him yourself. You two had better fix things before they get out of hand."

Aelita walked over to her bed post and slid a purse off of it before slinging it over her shoulder.

"I have to go and meet Sissi and the guys. I hope you'll change your mind about hanging out at the carnival. Lock up when you go."

Yumi watched Aelita leave the room and as the door closed, she collapsed on the girl's bed to stare up at the ceiling.

"Aelita's right." she sighed as she stared at the chipped paint and cracks that lined the ceiling. "Ulrich and I can still be friends. It's just that...I don't understand their relationship or why he had to lie to me about it."

A new thought crossed Yumi's mind and she sat up. "I guess I can give him the opportunity to explain himself."

Yumi stood from the bed and walked out the room, being sure to lock the door on her way out. She then headed out the building to head home. After all, if she was going to apologize, she had to look the part.

* * *

**Author's Note:****And so ends another chapter. So, the purple aura wasn't really explained in this chapter, but I had to introduce the next happening in this chapter. What's Yumi's plan to talk to Ulrich? Will the two of them make-up and get over this ridiculous spat or will something prevent the apology from going as planned? And what about Sissi's little "shock?" What exactly happened to her? To find out the answers to these questions and more, leave me a review and wait patiently for the next chapter.**


	8. Lights On, Lights Off

**Author's Note: ****Hey guys, I'm back with the next update after being absent for so long. I went on vacation to Wisconsin Dells: Mt. Olympus and it was so much fun. Plus, I have a job so I got a little far behind with my updating to put some cash in my pocket. Hey, a college girl has bills to pay and she needs food to eat lol**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own ****_Code Lyoko _or any of the series' characters. They are all property of Moonscoop Productions and the show's writers. This story does not follow the _Code Lyoko: Evolution _time line in any way. The idea for this story was completely made up by me, so please NO STEALING :)**

* * *

"_**Lights On, Lights Off"**_

Sissi squealed in delight as her cousin's car rolled to a stop in the parking lot near the fair grounds. Ulrich and Odd made their exit first and slid the door open to help the girls out. Aelita thanked Odd politely while Sissi gave Ulrich a quick kiss on his cheek.

"I'll be back in one hour Sissi." Patty spoke from the driver's seat as she rolled the passenger window down. "Meet me at the front gate so I can take you back to the school and get on with the rest of my evening."

"Sure thing Patty." Sissi said with a roll of her eyes. "Come on you guys, let's go before I'm due back at Kadic. I want to ride a few rides before then."

"Well, let's get a move on then." Ulrich said with a smile as he held his arm out for Sissi to wrap hers around.

Aelita and Odd followed behind them closely as they stepped through the metal gate entryway. A greeter was standing a few feet inside with a utility belt wrapped around their waist. Ulrich led the way and approached the middle-aged woman.

"Good evening." the woman spoke, her face showing no enthusiasm. "Tickets please."

Sissi reached into her pocket to retrieve hers and Ulrich's tickets. She handed them to the greeter who motioned for them to enter the gate. Odd then handed his and Aelita's tickets to the woman before stepping in behind them.

Aelita and Sissi began giggling with excitement at the sight of the festival. There were bright colorful lights illuminating the entire fair grounds and music was playing all around them. A carousel could be seen rotating up the dirt pathway and there was a giant three-sixty swing off in the distance. There were several concession stands lining the pathway, their various smells filling the nostrils of the young teens.

"The funnel cake stand is calling my name." Odd said, his voice longing. "We've got to get in line before it fills up."

"You're seriously considering eating before getting on rides?" Ulrich asked his roommate with a raised eyebrow. "Are you trying to get sick today?"

Odd stuck his tongue out as Aelita and Sissi laughed at his childish behavior. The group then made their way further into the carnival.

The teens recognized a few familiar faces from Kadic but there were several other teenagers they didn't recognize. Aelita suggested that they were students from a nearby public schools. Aside from teenagers, there were several small children visiting with their parents, a few toddlers being wheeled around in strollers, elderly couples sitting on the benches while sharing pastry treats, and festival workers who were doing their best to keep the area clean.

"It looks like the whole town's here." Aelita spoke up as they neared a ticket booth. "I've never seen so many people in one place before."

"Me neither." Sissi agreed. "Say, let's ditch this crowded street and have some real fun. I think the line to the three-sixty launcher is empty."

Aelita's eyes grew wide with horror as she looked ahead of them where the rotating swing was located.

"Are you sure you want to start out with such a huge ride?" the pink-haired teen spoke. "Why don't we go on something smaller first."

"Don't tell me you're scared princess?" Odd said with a smile.

Aelita's cheeks burned as a blush of embarrassment reddened her pale face. Odd leaned close to her and whispered in her ear.

"We deal with crazy creatures on Lyoko on a daily basis Aelita. Does the Colossus ring a bell to you? You can handle this monster, no sweat!"

Aelita sighed as she gave Odd's words a little thought.

"Fine then, let's get on this ride."

Sissi and Odd cheered before tugging on Ulrich and Aelita's hands to lead them to the line. Odd was impressed by the shortage of the line and he didn't fail to comment on it. Ulrich swallowed a lump in his throat at the sight of the current customers that had decided to get on the ride. There were four people allowed on the ride and all four seats had been filled with the bottoms of excited teenagers. There was a girl with olive skin and raven-black hair that was braided into a ponytail that ran down her back. She looked like a nervous wreck. There was a boy who sported the skater boy look in the seat beside her and the two seats behind them were occupied by two teens whose faces couldn't be seen.

"Odd, tell me again why we're getting on this ride?" Aelita questioned her friend as the ride's attendant stepped away from the car.

"Because being scared is such a thrill." Odd said as though it were obvious. "There's an indescribable feeling you get from the rush that comes out of being scared."

Aelita's lips closed into a thin line as she watched the ride attendant walk over to the control box. There was a giant screen above the control booth that began counting down from five and Odd and the others watched in amazement as the ride began to swing back and forth, pulling screams out of its occupants' throats. With each swing, the ride would get higher and higher until suddenly, the car did a full spin on the axis of the ride. Ulrich could swear there were tears coming out of the raven-haired girl's eyes and the skater boy next to her wasn't doing so hot either. After another minute of spinning, the ride came to a complete halt and the attendant left their post to release the four teens from their seats. Ulrich tried to contain his laughter as the raven-haired girl lost her footing and fell onto the concrete ground. He was so wrapped up in her fall that he didn't notice Sissi calling out to him.

"Hey Ulrich, isn't that William and Yumi?"

Ulrich turned his attention away from the display in front of him and turned to the direction Sissi was pointing in. His mouth fell open at the sight of the girl he had claimed to have no feelings for.

Yumi was wearing a halter top that was sheer over her mid-section. The top was a solid black that covered Yumi's breasts. Yumi also had on a dark-blue pair of Old Navy jeans and to Ulrich's surprise, she was wearing ballet flats instead of her usual combat boots. On her right wrist was an unfamiliar charm bracelet that would shimmer every time the light would hit it. In her ears were a set of black hoops that had black and silver beads strung over their wire. They made her look even more beautiful; but the thing that caught the young samurai's attention the most was her hair. Instead of wearing the raven tresses down like she usually did, Yumi had pulled most of her hair up into a bun that was secured with a set of jade and black chopsticks. A single piece of hair had been curled and was resting at the side of her face.

"Oh...my God..." Ulrich managed to choke out through his shock.

"I'm amazed to see that Yumi actually can upgrade her looks every once in a while." Sissi said, her expression also quite shocked.

"Well, let's go say hello?" Aelita suggested to the group, but Sissi shook her head.

"We don't want to lose our place in line. We can just meet up once we've finished our turn. You have her cell number, so they shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Sissi's right." Ulrich said, finally coming back to reality. "We can meet up with the two of them later."

The line moved forward a few steps, but Ulrich remained where he was. He managed to catch eyes with Yumi he shot him a small smile before turning her attention back to William.

"Well, that's certainly an improvement from earlier." he said with a small hint of hope in his voice. "Perhaps I can talk to her and get things straightened out?"

"Hey Ulrich," Sissi's voice came, snapping him out of his thoughts, "what are you doing? It's our turn to get on the ride."

Ulrich turned back to Sissi just in time to see a small flash go through her eyes. His eyes widened at the sight and he rubbed them one time just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Sissi was still standing there with a small look of irritability on her face as she usually did.

"Ulrich, come on. You know I only have a small amount of time to hang out with you guys before curfew. I don't want to head back without having done anything."

Ulrich stared at her cautiously just in case the strange occurrence would happen again, but when it didn't, he sighed and headed towards her.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous about getting on this ride." he lied as he took his seat beside her.

"This is going to be awesome!" they hear Odd shout from the seat behind them.

Aelita mumbles something nervously from her spot beside Odd as the ride attendant asked her to raise her arms so the bar could be secured in place. Once tightly strapped in. Aelita put her head in the palms of her hands and began muttering something to herself. She nearly screamed when she felt Odd place a hand on her shoulder.

"Aelita, calm down. It's only a ride."

"I am aware of that Odd." she said quickly. "It's just that...I can't help thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong while on it."

"Come on Aelita, be optimistic. If you had this fearful attitude every time we went to Lyoko, there is no way we could defeat XANA. Your fear would be too strong and prevent you from fighting to your best ability. Now, take a deep breath, and if at any point you get scared, I'll be holding your hand to help you through this, okay?"

Aelita's mouth fell open slightly as her eyes traveled down the pale palm being offered for her to take. She smiled gratefully and nodded as she placed her even smaller hand into his.

"Thank you Odd." she said as he held onto the hand tight.

"Are you guys ready?" they hear the attendant shout as she finishes securing Ulrich and Sissi's safety bars.

The four teens nodded, earning a smile from the attendant. She returned to the booth and hit a button. The area was filled with the sound of cheering as the screen above the ride began counting down from ten. Next thing the teens knew, the ride had begun.

The first swing was a lot faster than they had expected it to be, but it didn't stop them to high in the air. Sissi was giggling as her stomach dropped, tickling her insides. Ulrich simply kept his feelings contained and chose to smile in spite of his fear of heights he was about to experience. Aelita had a deathly grip on Odd's hand as she swallowed a scream, which was completely opposite of Odd who was cheering his head off, begging for the ride to go faster.

The second swing increased both the speed and the height of the ride and at that point, Aelita and Sissi had begun screaming. Ulrich took one look down at the ground and paled. He pressed his head back into his seat and closed his eyes, settling to just feel the motion of the ride over seeing how high up they were going.

The third swing brought the ride car up to the center of the ride's axis and the rush the four teens had felt made everyone in the car scream. The fourth and fifth swings were pretty much the same reaction wise, but the sixth swing was the three-sixty, and none of the teens were prepared when they felt themselves being swung up high into the air to the point they couldn't hear the music of the festival below them. They were swung higher and higher into the night sky until they were completely upside down, their hair being pulled back towards the ground by the rough angle they were at. When the swing made it's full three-sixty, they came rushing back to the ground at an alarming speed before being pushed up to do another three-sixty. After the second flip. The ride release a whooshing sound as it slowly came to an end.

The attendant burst out in laughter when she came to lift their bars. Odd's hair was even spikier than usual, Aelita looked as though she were hyperventilating, Ulrich's face was frozen with fear and Sissi's hair was all over the place as she laughed with excitement. The attendant released the four teens and pointed them in the direction of the exit gate.

"Wasn't that great?" Sissi exclaimed as she jumped up and down excitedly.

Ulrich and Aelita shot her glares.

"We are never getting on a ride like that **ever **again." Aelita said straight-forwardly, earning a laugh from both Sissi and Odd.

Sissi finished laughing and lifted a hand to her hair. "Oh great, my hair is a mess. Do you guys see the ladies' room anywhere around here?"

"I think it's back near the entrance." Aelita said. "We probably passed it on our way in. I'll go with you. I'm feeling...kind of queasy."

Sissi nodded before turning to the boys. "We'll be back in about ten minutes. How about you guys go and grab a bite to eat or something? If you go on any rides, they better not be the fun ones."

Ulrich and Odd waved the two girls off as they disappeared into the crowd of people.

"So, I'm hungry Ulrich. Want to go get a funnel cake?"

"I think I'll pass Odd. I'd actually like to find William and Yumi. I really need to talk to her."

"About her relationship with William or about your relationship with Sissi?"

"I don't know...both?"

Odd sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as his eyes slid closed. "Ulrich, just let them be. We're all here trying to have a little fun tonight. Don't spoil it by causing a scene here in public."

"I won't cause a scene and it won't be public. I'll just pull her to the side and talk to her. I don't like that she's mad at me and I hate myself for being the cause of her anger. I shouldn't have lied to her and that's that."

Odd shrugged before sauntering off towards the concession area. "I'll probably run into the girls while I'm down here. I'll text you so we can meet back up."

Ulrich nodded before heading off in the direction he'd seen Yumi disappear in with William earlier.

* * *

Jeremy's eyes scanned over the information Aelita had pulled from the activated tower as he tried to search for something useful on the new XANA. As far as he could tell, this new XANA was merely a copy of the original. So if his anti-virus program really did defeat the original XANA, perhaps there would be time to create another program to take out the new one. The only issue would be if another XANA would be created by then. If all else failed, he'd simply destroy the new one and shut of the Super Computer to prevent XANA's clutches from getting into the network and taking over the world.

As that thought passed through his mind, Jeremy's eyes caught sight of a name: Antea Hopper.

"Aelita's mother?" he said to no one in particular as he clicked on the file. "Why would there be a file of Aelita's mother in the Lyoko network?"

Jeremy waited patiently for the folder to open and he gasped as several screens began to open. There were several pictures of a pink-haired woman and Franz Hopper, along with a few photos of Aelita. There was a full biography, birth information and an entire article about her job activities. There was also an online article about her disappearance that caught Jeremy's eye.

The computer genius leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands as he rested his elbows on the chair's arms. He placed his chin on his folded hands and sighed.

"Well, if Franz Hopper is the one that created Lyoko and the entire Super Computer, it's only natural that I find information on his missing wife. He could have possibly used Lyoko's towers as a way to store away his projects and information."

Suddenly, a blue folder caught Jeremy's attention. He opened it and was shocked to see that it was a video recording. The video was dated, revealing that it was from twelve years ago. Jeremy raised an eyebrow before leaning forward to hit the space bar. The video began playing and Jeremy's mouth fell open in chock.

Aelita's mother could be seen in the background of the video behind bars. The room she was in was very dark and dim. The walls were stone and gray, the ceiling's dripping. It was almost like the video was filmed in a cellar. There was a man in a black suit wearing a set of shades over his eyes that was staring at the camera.

"We have Antea Hopper." the man spoke in a deep voice. "It won't be long until we come after you and that darling little girl of yours too. You have created a threat to society Franz and therefore, you must be dealt with. Give us control of the Super Computer or face dire consequences. You claim you love this woman and you were so desperate to get her back. Well, we've had her for months and you have yet to make a move to get her back. What are you waiting for Hopper? You have ten days to make your decision. If you don't comply and give us the answers we need, we will be forced to take serious action."

The video cut off, the last scene being that off the man walking towards the cell Antea was inside as she screamed for someone to help her. Jeremy shuddered with fear at the sight. The date passed through his mind another time, making him realize that the date was ten days before Aelita and Franz were materialized and sealed onto Lyoko for ten years, only to be freed when Jeremy would stumble into the factory and turn the computer back on.

"So...the men in black trapped Aelita and her father on Lyoko and shut of the Super Computer to protect society from XANA. So...what happened to Aelita's mother then?"

Before he could even think over his self-asked question, another screen caught his attention in the background. Jeremy closed Antea's file and the other files he had been sifting through and gasped at the realization that the super scan had been running. The scan had long stopped running and was resting on a tower in the Forest Sector. The information displayed revealed that the tower wasn't active, but was in some type of mode labeled Hiatus XII. The scan also revealed that the aura around the tower was purple.

"So the activated...or hiatus towers are purple...but what exactly does that mean?"

Jeremy put his hand to his chin in thought as his eyes traveled to his cellphone laying next to the keyboard. He could call Aelita, but she was busy having fun at the carnival and that is something she would miss out on if he drug her back to the factory for an unknown reason. Still, what if this hiatus tower was dangerous and was another one of XANA's tricks.

"I guess I'll have to do a little research on my own." Jeremy decided. "But I still need someone to go to Lyoko and check things out. Then again, the team has to wait a full twelve hours before being able to go back. I guess this will just have to wait until tomorrow."

* * *

Ulrich made his way through a crowded area as he scanned the faces of everyone he passed. Surely, Yumi and William had gone that way. They had to be around somewhere. Ulrich looked up just in time to see Yumi and William at one of the game booths. The booth worker was filling Yumi and Wililam's paintball guns and was explaining to them that they had to hit three bull's eyes to get a prize. Yumi and William began working each other up claiming one was better than the other and that they were going to win the challenge. Ulrich smiled, relieved that he'd found her and he walked over to the booth to watch the shootout.

They shot off several rounds, the green paint of William's gun hitting a bull's eye immediately. Yumi wasn't too far behind him and managed to hit one a few seconds later. When they finished shooting off their round, Yumi cheered at the realization that she'd gotten four bull's eyes over William's three.

"Well, you know what that means?" Yumi said, a playful smile on her lips. "My prize is bigger than yours."

"I wouldn't exactly say that." William said with a perverted smirk on his face. "I'm sure you'd love to see what kind of prize lies in this cracker jack box."

Yumi hit William playfully with her gun as the two of them burst into a fit of laughter.

"See, you just had to ruin my victory moment with some sick, perverted joke." Yumi said in between laughs.

William nodded as the two of them placed their guns on the counter. The booth attendant questioned what type of prizes they would like. William took a blow-up hammer and Yumi settled for a stuffed penguin wearing a bow tie and black hat.

"Cute." William said.

"Isn't he?" Yumi gushed over the stuffed animal. "I have to think of the perfect name for him."

"I wasn't talking about the penguin Yumi, although he's a handsome gentleman himself. I was talking about you."

Yumi stared at William and smiled, her face slightly flushed. "You really think so?"

"Yumi, you've always been an attractive person. It's just that tonight, you look even prettier than usual and for the first time in days, there's a smile on your face. I couldn't ask for a prettier sight."

Yumi smiled and thanked William before looking over his shoulder and gasping as she caught sight of Ulrich leaning casually against a booth behind them.

"Ulrich, what are you doing here?" she said as nervousness filled the pit of her stomach. At the mentioning of Ulrich's name, William turned around, wondering the same thing.

"I saw you two earlier while in line for the rotating swing." he explained as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I was happy to see that you decided to come out and enjoy the festival after all."

Yumi nodded in response before an awkward silence came between the three of them. Yumi shot William a look out the corner of her eyes, silently pleading for him to give them a little privacy. William caught sight of the look and smiled.

"Say Yumi, I'm going to go buy a lemon shake-up, I'm parched. Did you want anything?"

"A corn dog sounds heavenly right about now." she responded with a smile.

"Okay. I'll text you when I'm on my way back."

Yumi nodded as she and Ulrich watched the dark-haired boy disappear towards the concession stands. They then turned back to each other.

"So, would you like to go on a ride or something?" Ulrich asked with a smile.

Yumi shrugged. "Sure, what did you have in mind?"

"We could walk through the house of mirrors, or there's the Avalanche, then there's the Ferris wheel."

"Let's get on the Ferris wheel." Yumi suggested. "It's a steady ride, and besides, we can sit and...talk."

Ulrich nodded before leading the way to the line. They only waited for five minutes before being ushered into car number nine. They sat across from each other and stared out at the colorful lights in the night as their car rose up so another car could be emptied of previous riders and filled with new ones. They were almost at the top when Yumi parted her lips to speak.

"I want to apologize for earlier." she said with a sigh. "I was...a jerk to you. I mean, I'm upset with the way things have been going between us lately, but that is still no reason for me to act so moody and evil towards you."

"If I hadn't have lied to you, none of this would have happened in the first place." Ulrich pointed out. "Yumi...I am so sorry that you had to find out about me and Sissi the way you did, and the other day in the gym...I shouldn't have lied to you and said nothing was going on between us. I guess...I felt you would disapprove of me being in a relationship with her, so I panicked and lied."

"Ulrich, that's not even what hurt me the most." Yumi said with sincerity in her voice. "The fact that you basically told me that without Lyoko, we had no friendship...that's what killed me inside. I felt like Sissi was replacing me in your heart. She's the one you wanted to spend time with. She's the one you're going to be talking to on the phone at late hours of the night. She'll know all of your pain and secrets and she'll be the only one able to comfort you when you're distressed. You and I weren't dating Ulrich, but I used to be the one you would do all of those things with. You were my best friend and the fact that you basically denied our friendship because of your romantic feelings for another girl...that really hurt me Ulrich. I didn't want to believe what you told me in the gym, but the fact that I had to find out in a school news article about your relationship instead of hearing the words come out of your own mouth...it caused me to snap...and I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have acted that way towards you. Besides, now that Lyoko is once again a part of our lives, we have to get over our differences so we can work as a team and help the others to defeat XANA. I can't allow my personal feelings for you to ruin our chances at keeping the world safe."

"I truly am sorry Yumi. I should have told you the truth, and I most definitely shouldn't have made up that lame drama that we couldn't be friends. That is far from the truth Yumi because ever since this fighting between us started...I've felt like something important was missing from my life. You really do mean a lot to me Yumi and just as you hate seeing Sissi take your place in my life...I hate seeing William take mine in yours."

Yumi nodded. "William and I have always been friends Ulrich, you know that, but even though he and I are getting close...that doesn't mean I'm going to shut you out and replace you in my heart. Okay?"

Ulrich smiled and nodded before standing to sit beside her in the other seat. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"You mean so much to me and I value our friendship." he said as she rested her head on his shoulder. "We can't allow anything to come between what we have, okay?"

Yumi nodded. "I promise."

They pulled a part and smiled as their car began another descent into the sky only this time when they reached the top, the Ferris wheel stopped abruptly. All of the lights in the park flashed out and they could hear the screams of the festival goers below them.

"What's going on?" Yumi asked as she leaned over the car to stare down at the ground. The entire festival was dark, the only light being the full moon in the sky.

Just then, Ulrich caught sight of lightning shooting through the cables on the ground.

"Yumi, look!" he shouted as he pointed to the sight below them.

Yumi gasped and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed William's number and waited anxiously for him to pick up.

"William, you're near the concession stands right? Oh, Odd's with you? Do you two see the lightning shooting through those cables down there? Right, I need you to go investigate."

Yumi hung up with William and turned back to Ulrich whose face she could barely make out in the dark.

"Where's Aelita?" she questioned Ulrich.

"She and Sissi went to the restroom after we got of the three-sixty swing. She wasn't feeling well."

"Well, get a hold of Sissi then. I have a bad feeling about all of this."

Suddenly, an explosion erupted in the distance causing everyone to scream and go into a panic. Orange flames and smoke were billowing up into the sky, illuminating the fair grounds in an orange glow. Ulrich and Yumi could see people running away from the fire fearfully. A few seconds later, an even larger explosion erupted, shaking the area. Yumi and Ulrich began panicking when their cable car began swinging violently back and forth.

"We have to get down from here." Yumi said. "We aren't safe."

"How do you plan on getting us down Yumi? The power's out, remember?"

Yumi peered over the edge of the car to estimate how far down the next car was. It would be too risky to drop straight from where they are. Her attention then went to one of the metal bars of the wheel's construction. It wasn't too far from their car, but it would be one hell of a jump.

"Our only way down is to climb." she said as she stood to her feet, causing the car to rock even more.

"Are you out of your mind?" Ulrich shouted as he held onto the bar in the center of the car. "We are way too high up to even attempt jumping. Think of what could possibly happen. You could fall and get hurt, or worse, you could fall and die. We just got our friendship back on track, I don't want you to die because you don't want to be stuck in the air."

"Ulrich, we could both die if another explosion rocks this car hard enough to break off. Besides, I have a bad feeling that XANA is behind this power outage, and that means all of those families and kids down there are in danger because of us. We have to get down from here."

Ulrich swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. Yumi was absolutely right. If they didn't get down, there was no telling what could happen.

Yumi pulled off her ballet flats and broke the soles so they could bend a little easier on her feet. She then pulled one of her chopsticks from her bun and unlatched the car door before pushing it open slowly.

"Okay Ulrich," Yumi spoke as she sat down and hung her feet out of the now open door. "I'm not sure how any of this is going to play out, so keep a close eye on me and try your best to match my movements."

"Easier said than done." Ulrich replied grumpily as he took a seat beside her. "Remember Yumi, you're an acrobat here on earth and on Lyoko. I happen to be neither."

"Ulrich, just try and concentrate." Yumi snapped as she slowly slid her bottom off the edge and held onto the floor with her hands.

"Hang onto me." Yumi said quickly, and Ulrich obliged by quickly taking hold of her hands to hold her weight. Thankfully, Yumi had always been light.

"Slowly lower me down." she said, her voice heavy as she tried to concentrate and think through what she was doing.

Ulrich leaned forward so that he was on his stomach and he leaned out of the door partially as he began lowering Yumi near the bar. Yumi began to kick her legs in a swinging motion and Ulrich rocked his arms along with her to help give her the leverage to make her jump. If anyone could see the two of them hanging out of the Ferris wheel cab, they could mistake them for two trapeze artists.

Yumi continued to swing to the point that she gained some height for her jump.

"Ulrich, let go!" she shouted suddenly and he released her. He panicked inwardly with the thought that she might not make it, but to his relief, Yumi was released from his hold where she flipped into a somersault and reached out for the bar of the Ferris wheel. She grabbed onto the large structure and took a sight of relief as she pulled herself up onto the bar so she could stand.

"Okay Ulrich, now it's your turn." she said as she took a sigh of relief.

"Are you out of your mind?" Ulrich said as he stared down at her, barely able to make her out in under the glow of the moon and the distant fire. "There isn't an extra person to hold my feet up here and there's no way I'm going to be able to do a fancy flip and land perfectly like you. Even if you tried to catch me, I'm a lot heavier than you are. I'll just wait up here until the power comes back on."

"Ulrich Stern." Yumi said, her tone heavy. "You get down here right now!"

Ulrich sighed as he complied with Yumi's demand. He sat upright and slid his bottom out just as Yumi had earlier. He then began swinging himself for leverage. Nervousness had his brain running a mile a minute with the thought of not making it, but when he got enough leverage, he jumped. A scream was pulled out his throat as he felt gravity do what did best. His body was falling in mid-air, but before he could even comprehend what was going to come, he felt Yumi grab onto his hand. Ulrich didn't even realize that he had his eyes shut until he heard Yumi cursing and demanding he put forth some effort and getting up on the bar. Ulrich opened his eyes and realized he was looking down at the ground many feet below him. He felt his heart nearly stop, but Yumi's shouting snapped him out of his fears. Ulrich swung his other arm up to her and tried to pull himself up as she did the same. In a few short minutes, the two teens were safe on the bar.

Before Yumi could even instruct Ulrich to make another move, her phone began ringing.

"This is Yumi." she answered breathlessly. She waited a few seconds while the person on the other line began talking.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Jeremy. Could you slow down please? I can barely understand a word you're saying!"

Ulrich raised an eyebrow and stared at Yumi as she conversed with the blonde genius. He took in her appearance another time, just as he had done earlier. Her hair had fallen out of the bun once she'd removed the chopstick to unlatch the door and she looked a little sweaty and tired, but she was still beautiful. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Yumi asked Jeremy what a hiatus tower was. Ulrich repeated the word back to Yumi, but she held up a finger to silence him.

Yumi remained silent for several minutes, her eyes growing wider as Jeremy dove deeper into his explanation of his findings back at the factory.

"That's insane." Yumi said, her voice slightly panicked. "How come we're just finding this out now Jeremy? You should have told me and William before we left the factory!"

"Yumi, what's going on?" Ulrich asked.

"Okay Jeremy, me and Ulrich are trying to get off a non-functioning Ferris wheel at the moment, so I'll round the others up and we'll get to the factory as soon as possible, although I'm unsure of how much good that's going to do at this point."

Yumi said her goodbyes to Jeremy before ending the call and sliding her phone back into her pocket.

"We have a huge problem." Yumi said.

* * *

Aelita opened her eyes weakly and groaned as an intense pain rocked the inside of her skull. She couldn't move her legs for some reason and everything around her was shrouded in darkness. Her senses slowly began to come back to her and she immediately regretted waking up. Aside from her head hurting, she could feel blood streaming down the side of her face, the air around her smelled horrible as though there was some kind of gas leak nearby and she could hear rushing water and the sound of distant screams. Just what had happened?

Aelita weakly lifted her hand to her head and touched the spot where the blood was coming from. It was a small gash, but it had huge ending results. She pushed herself up slowly and cried out in pain as something crushed her legs. She reached forward and realized that her legs were trapped underneath the wall of one of the neighboring bathroom stalls.

When her phone began ringing, Aelita began digging in the debris all around her for the pink razor. She finally found it a few inches away from her and winced in pain before answering.

"H-hello?" she answered, her voice wavering.

"Aelita, it's Odd. Where are you?"

"I'm trapped in the bathroom." Aelita said feeling tears in her eyes. "I don't understand what's going on Odd. I just woke up in here and it's dark and I'm all alone."

"What do you mean you're alone?" Odd asked worriedly. "Where is Sissi? Wasn't she with you?"

Aelita paused and tried to remember what had happened before she woke up, but her mind was blank.

"Odd, I have a head injury. I must have hurt my head a lot worse than I originally thought. I can't remember anything after leaving you and Ulrich behind at the three-sixty."

"Okay Aelita, William and I are coming to get you. We fear that XANA is behind these events and if that's the case, we have to get to Lyoko."

"Okay Odd, but please hurry."

"I'm on my way princess."

Aelita nodded and sniffed as she ended the call. She wiped away the tears that had begun falling down her face and stared around at her surroundings. The safety lights in the bathroom were very dim from not having enough back-up power to function, so they were her only source of light. Remembering that Sissi had supposedly come to the restroom with her, Aelita began calling out for her new friend, but she received no answer.

"Sissi please, if you can hear me, I need you to answer me!"

Aelita still received no reply and that worried her. What if Sissi were injured and trapped under the debris? If William and Odd didn't get there soon, who knows what would happen to her?

* * *

Ulrich continued to follow Yumi as she slowly made her way down the slanted bar of the Ferris wheel. Her steps were careful and thought out to ensure that she wouldn't fall and Ulrich followed suit, trusting that she knew what she was doing. They reached the edge of the bar and the circular rim of the wheel in ten minutes and Yumi sighed with relief.

"Now, for the hard part." she said as she carefully maneuvered herself around the bar and began pulling herself down the rim towards the ground.

"So, you're saying the rest of that was easy?" Ulrich said sarcastically as he two latched onto the bar and began lowering himself to the ground.

The two of them made it down to the ground in half the time it took them to get to the rim. Ulrich took a sigh of relief when his feet touched the metal platform they had been standing on earlier when they boarded the ride. He collapsed onto his knees and began mumbling something about never getting on amusement park rides again.

"Ulrich, come on." Yumi urged him. "We have to meet up with the others and get to the factory."

Ulrich nodded and stood up to jog after Yumi as she headed in the direction they'd sent William and Odd off in earlier.

"So, what did Jeremy say on the phone?" Ulrich questioned her as they ran down the dirt path past the screaming guests.

"Jeremy said he did a little research on the purple aura we saw around that activated tower earlier. Apparently, it's called a Hiatus Tower because the tower is activated and deactivated at the same time."

"Is that even possible?" Ulrich asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Apparently so. We were lured to Lyoko by the Hiatus Tower because it set off the super scan and I saw it. The only thing is, Aelita wasn't able to deactivate the tower when we got to Lyoko, remember? She touched the screen and gathered information."

"So she went into the Hiatus Tower and couldn't deactivate it. That's why we all assumed it wasn't an activated tower."

"Well, we were dead wrong about it not being activated. XANA has found a way to activate a tower and keep it activated. Jeremy called and said this Hiatus Tower is activated in the Forest Region, but the first Hiatus Tower was in the Polar Region. We never deactivated it."

"So you're telling me, there are two activated towers that we can't deactivate and XANA has two continuous attacks going on?"

"Right. This electrical disaster going on here at the festival happened right after the second Hiatus Tower was activated. Which leaves one question..."

Ulrich stared at Yumi wondering what could possibly be on the Japanese teen's mind.

"What attack was launched when the first Hiatus Tower was activated? It has to still be going on right? Aelita never deactivated it."

Ulrich suddenly remembered finding Sissi in the middle of the woods when they left the factory earlier and how she'd been a little off and disoriented, claiming she was fine. He also recalled the flash that had gone through her eyes while they were in line for the three-sixty.

"Oh my God...it's Sissi!" he said, his eyes wide with horror.

"Um, Ulrich? I know that we've just come to terms with the fact that the two of you are together and all, but can we please forget about her for two seconds and focus on the matter at hand?"

"I am focusing on the matter at hand Yumi. Sissi is being controlled by that Hiatus Tower!"

Yumi stared at him blankly. "Explain, now."

"When Odd, Aelita and I left you and William on the factory bridge, we found Sissi unconscious in the park. She claimed that she had been out looking for me and that she tripped and hit her head. She was acting very strange but I blew it off because she seemed find afterward, but while we were waiting in line to get on the three-sixty, I saw a flash go through her eyes. I dismissed the idea because everything was still fine; but now, we're here in the amusement park and the power is out and the explosion came from...oh my God!"

"What now Ulrich?" Yumi asked, slightly irritated that he hadn't mentioned all of this earlier.

"The explosions were down near the bathroom. Sissi took Aelita down there when we got off the ride."

Yumi's eyes widened with horror. "Let's go, now!"

* * *

Aelita winced in pain as she finished pushing the stall wall off of her legs. Her left leg was fine, but she could tell her right ankle had been twisted pretty badly. She slowly stood up, careful not to put any pressure on her foot, and she began limping through all of the debris. Aelita coughed as she inhaled a breath of smoke, but she continued walking through the dark and damaged room towards the exit. Just as her hand reached the door, she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

"Going somewhere?" a chilling voice whispered in her ear.

Before Aelita could react, she felt a powerful jolt of electricity shoot through her body. She shook violently before falling onto the floor into a puddle of water formed by the broken sinks. Aelita lifted her head slowly and tried to steady her blurry vision. She froze with fear at the sight of Sissi standing above her, a crooked smile on her face and her hand outstretched towards her.

"S-Sissi?" Aelita stammered weakly.

"Not quite." Sissi spoke in an unfamiliar voice as XANA's symbol flashed through her eyes.

"XANA..." Aelita whispered.

"You're coming with me Aelita Dear. Daddy wants to see us."

Aelita began crawling away from Sissi, but it was no use. Another jolt of electricity was sent through her body, this time knocking her out cold.

"This is going to be a day to remember." Sissi spoke. "The show's about to begin, for I have the main actress."

* * *

**Author's Note: ****And so ends another chapter. So what exactly does XANA have in store for Aelita? What is this big plan of his and what did Sissi mean when she said "Daddy wants to see us?"**

**Well, the way to find out the answer to these questions and more is to review and wait patiently for the next update. I promise it won't take nearly as long to make its release lol**

**If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please voice them through your review or send me a PM so I can give you a more detailed explanation. Until next time everyone!**


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